Haye is bad mouthing all these East European guys, calling them robotic and such like. Let's see him walk the walk. No chance - hot dog and cookie fights for him! I can see Skelton next Summer.
Povetkin in an easy fight. unless Haye was really suffering from making weight in which case i dont know.
More at heavy. But less at world class level. Povetkin late stoppage. I love watching Haye but I like to make at least a half hearted stab at objectivity. Haye has a punchers chance though and I think it would be a competitive match up.
I find it incredible that such little respect is given to Haye, the World Cruiserweight Champion. He may well lose but I really can't see an easy victory by Povetkin. He undoubtedly needs to sort his defense out but his stamina problems may be eradicated when he starts fighting at his natural weight. And, the man can certainly punch.
The reason I don't like Haye is his mouth is too big. He says he's the best fighter in world right now :rofl Well, Mr Haye, put up or shut up. Plenty good Europeans out there...Virchis, Povetkin, Dimitrenko to name but three. And there's also, er.. Skelton:yep I wonder who Maloney will feed him? My guess is journeyman.
With Hayes terrible defense and lack of an iron jaw to negate it, there is a very good chance he will have a Bert Cooper type career at HW, which is very respectable, but nowhere near the ATG expectations many on this forum have for him, Povetkin is a better boxer in every way expect power meaning he will school Haye and probably wear him out to a late round TKO. Haye's biggest weapon is his right hand, which is telegraphed by the way he coils his fist back to his shoulder, and delivered more like a semi hook than a cross, meaning that a skilled boxer like Sasha will see it coming about two minutes before he throws it. Even Mormeck should have finished him off had he not lacked sufficient stamina to do so, Haye would not have a high chance of beating Povetkin, but I do want to see the fight, if just to stop all the Haye vs. Ali type threads going around recently.
This is a fight that should happen some day, I think its a great match up. Let both fighters (especially Haye) get some more wins behind them first.
Haye will get taken out early by almost any top HW. He better fight light-hitting fighters like Chris Byrd or Eddie Chambers if he wants to remain conscious. I'm not entirely sure that even those guys wouldn't knock him out.
Who exactly has Povetkin faced who hits harder than Haye? Just curious. I imagine Haye is even in the upper third with respect to HW power. Other than the extremely limited Ed Mahone, pretty much everyone Povetkin has faced has been considered a light puncher. I think Povetkin probably outboxes him to a UD, but Haye has a puncher's chance, and I can see Haye trying to drag Povetkin into a brawl, which is something Povetkin's never been involved in as a pro.
What has he done to show he's such a hard puncher? KO an untested Shane Cameron? Friday's a decent boxer, but not that hard of a puncher. His record is littered with UDs against guys that anyone with a decent punch should have been able to KO (Onebo Maxime, Ramon Hayes, Otis Tisdale, etc.)
Would be my guess,too. Povetkin plays in a different league. Mormeck almost knocked him out,and Thompson did stop Haye a few years ago. You have to ask yourself the following question:would Povetkin have almost get knocked out by Mormeck if they had fought each other instead of Haye,and would Povetkin have lost to Thompson if they had fought at the beginning of Povetkin's pro career. No,I for my part dont have that much imagination. Haye cant hold a candle to Povetkin!
Povetkin's good, but he needs to be aggressive against Haye. While the fight is at range, Haye destroys him. Haye's whole amateur career was based around blasting upright Eastern European fighters.