David Haye: Most overrated HW of the past decade?

I've never seen a guy given so much mythical H2H credit for so little to justify it. At his peak, he was arguably the best non K hw around, but that was only for about a year. He did have wins over top 10 guys in Valuev (barely, would have lost if it was a 10 rounder) and Chisora (spectacular ko, but Chisora had him in a bad way during parts of the fight), and a few good wins over fringe contenders in Barrett (who still managed to kd Haye) and very old Ruiz. Very good, but not remotely the level of success to think he could have had much success against any version of a K, or, prime for prime, even against much more proven contenders today.

But he's not prime anymore. He has not fought even remotely a fringe contender in over 3.75 years. And has had serious surgery. And is 35 with a style relying on speed. And in his comeback fight against a bum, weighed 15 pounds heavier than in the past, clearly giving more credence to concerns about lowered speed. He's not a superheavyweight who usually age well, his skill sets are the type that usually fade the quickest.

And yet, a lot of people still put him in the top 10 right now? I'm not even convinced he's still in the top 30. I actually wouldn't be shocked if Briggs could beat him right now. Clearly Haye feared it, Briggs would have brought a lot more money and positive publicity than Grbaja, there's no other reason not to have grabbed at Briggs, who for a real contender, is low risk, high reward(most contenders would jump at the chance to fight Briggs, would bring in a lot of attention and money, but he'll only fight for a huge purse, something only a champ and one or two contenders can bring). I am doubtful that Haye will face ANY top 50 hw until he gets his precious cash out fight against Joshua etc and gets blown out.

 

Adamek probably would have beat Haye at their prime, more resourceful, much better chin, better activity level and enough speed to counter Haye. Plus Adamek had about as good a HW resume (Arreola and Chambers are about the same level as Valuev and Chisora, Grant and Golota as good as Ruiz and Barrett), but was rarely mentioned in the same breath as Haye re: having a legit chance against the K's. So, no, Haye is vastly more overrated than Adamek ever was. Adamek's shot now, but I suspect Haye may prove to be just as shot if he faced even a fringe contender like Molina

 

What a joke, this is developing into one of the best periods in HW history. Very much has an early 90's feel, and it could exceed that time period.

 

Weight can be an advantage for Super Heavies, but not for comparatively little heavies who rely almost entirely on speed, surpise and quickness, even in their power shots. Rating top 10 for his past makes almost as much sense as rating Adamek top 10 for his past. If Adamek had stopped fighting when Haye did and then came back against such dreadful opp, they would have had about equal resumes, and we wouldn't know how bad Adamek had declined.