Haye v Dempsey

That's fine. But beating Mormeck amounts to zero in the heavyweight scheme. Of course it's probably still better than beating Audley Harrison.

Meehan danced and spoiled his way to a couple of decisions in 4-round charity bouts. Dempsey had him down and almost out in the last fight. Yes, it hurts Dempsey's reputation. But of course nothing like that would happen to Haye. He hardly ever fights, nevermind going on tour fighting professionals for charity.
It's silly to compare.

 

What had he done to STAND OUT ?
(Apart from shoot his mouth off.)

Ruiz was his best win. Ruiz hadn't a win over a legit contender in years. 38 years old, a relic, never exactly a killer. He had a pedestrian win over Adnan Serin in the previous 20 months. He was no longer relevant.
That's Haye's best win.

.. or Valuev. Haye pipped the giant in uninspiring fashion, a fighter who'd been lucky to get decision over 46 year-old Holyfield.


^ THAT IS IT.
If I mention any of Haye's other HW wins, nothing good can be said. They are best forgotten.

 

That's true. I'd pick Dempsey's sub-200 men over Haye's.

I rate Chisora as Haye's best win, all things considered.

 

Strange's definition of "stand out".
Beating two relics who were hardly relevant any more.

Like I said, Haye stood out because of his mouth. Is that was you are refering too ?

 

Audley was a joke fight, but if you look at it, was a European champion really less than a weight lifter cum boxer in Firpo?

As mentioned Dempsey himself only had 3-4 significant fights against 200+ pound men, Mormeck was bigger than most of his opponents

Both Haye and Dempsey became semi-retired

Both Ruiz/Valuev were around the same age as Willard and equally as successful in their era

I'd agree, as a performance, I think Chisora is overall his best HW opponent, against a bigger pressure fighter who stylistically doesn't suit him

 

I've never doubted the demand for the fight.

What I said was : "He didn't do much to establish himself as the best available challenger for Wlad - I mean, he was not a stand-out challenger in pure fighting terms."

The never said he didn't stand out in publicity terms. In fact I'm at pains to explain that that is very much what he did !

:good

 

Yes, Audley was less than Firpo. By a big margin.
Audley was somehow a European champion but there were dozens of fighters in Europe you'd expect to beat him from pillar to post. There's probably men in Audley's local area who could beat him.
Seriously.

Haye didn't beat them in the same manner as Dempsey thrashed Willard.

Honestly, if Haye had destroyed Valuev in a few rounds, I'd be rating him a lot higher. There's no evidence that he was good enough to do it.

 

As I said : "He was just the latest in a long line of undistinguished challengers."

He did enough to qualify in division of mediocre contenders.
To me, that's different to being a "STAND OUT".