I agree that Haye seems very marketable, and I'm a big fan: I wrote that long article a while back comparing him and Solis. Unfortunately, he hasn't been much marketed. We don't see posters, TV ads, internet ads, lots of articles, so this potential is untested. That gives an excuse for him not drawing big crowds yet, but not one that explains it 100%. Given how good he is, given that he's European champion and is fighting next for the linear unified championship, you'd expect a bit more hype already. He may be fighting in the unloved CW division, but I have serious doubts that his potential is what it seems, when still at this stage the crowds are so small. The best way to test it is for someone to really put him out there once he's won the title. Get him on Grandstand; get him on MaxBoxing; get him on Parkie and Richard and Judy! If you can't get him booked when he's world CW champion and ready to assault the heavies, then maybe he won't be such a star after all...
I dunno about him being unpopular. Behind the big boys Hatton, Calzaghe and Amir Khan he's one of the most popular fighters in the country. Seriously. He has a better following than Clinton Woods or Junior Witter, both of whom are champions in their divisions. He's had a lot of his amatuer fights shown, the BBC followed his early career and he's been on ITV and Sky for some of his bigger fights. Not to mention the fact he's got all his best fights on YouTube, which shows a keen sense of marketing in my opinion because the internet is something that is not properly exploited by other fighters. If/when he beats Jean Marc Mormeck, his star will rise and he'll be a very big deal. He'll be bordering on a household name in the UK, and because the Haye - Mormeck fight is on cable for free in the US I reckon he'll win over a fair few fans there too. His style is so exciting that I can see him getting a big following very quickly. Popularity shouldn't be a problem for him at all. All in all, he'll go into the heavyweight division with a good following and good credentials. You have to understand, especially american fans, that the Heavyweight division has big fans outside the US, its much more global than it ever was. rather than totally monopolizing the division as they had once done, its now a truly worldwide division. Haye has charisma and charm in abundance, he speaks english, and has a very exciting style. He will be very good for the division. I've said it before, but with David Haye, Alexander Povetkin, Odliander Solis, Eddie Chamber and Chris Arreola the division may very well become great once again. Even guys like Calvin Brock, Sam Peter Ruslan Chageav, Nicolay Valuev and Sultan Ibraginmov are young enough to be in contention. Now, you put all those guys in the top 10 in 2 or 3 years, you have the maknigs of a very competetive and interesting division.
It's a good prospectus, and I hope you're right. If only the BBC would pony up to televise Haye-Momeck, instead of it being on Sky!
Popularity is gained by beating up people in brutal fashion. Mike Tyson was no pretty boy, he beat people up. I don't see Haye doing that at HW. His six pack will get him nowhere.
David Bekham won the premier league and champions league with Man Utd. David Haye at this point in time does not match his achievements. In comparable terms he is more with a team like Blackburn or something similar. Also at this point in time any comparisons between Haye and DLH are ludicrous. Haye has talent, but he hasnt done **** yet on the world level. If he wins against Mormeck, that would be a nice start. However, he has quite a few good fights to go before you can proclaim him to be the savior of the heavyweight boxing. Povetkin on the other hand in only two fights away from fighting the top man in the division.
You're missing the point here. The point is that if he CAN do anything, Haye will be more popular than Povetkin in the US and the UK, even if Povetkin is significantly better. Solis will have the same problems, as someone who doesn't look like a boxer and who doesn't speak English or German. Problem is that someone can have all the talent in the world, but if they're not charismatic, they still won't be that popular.
As another posted said though it doesn't entirely explain the lack of popularity. Yes boxing is more global, those of us who talk of Povetkin and Chagaev's popularity are directly referring to that. The question is why can't Haye, after 20 fights, draw? It isn't just because he didn't sign with Warren. It seems as if there is always an excuse, maybe his potential to be a star is just not what his fans think it is. Kelly Pavlik is not the body beautiful that Taylor is yet there were about 11,000 people at Boardwalk Hall that were chearing for him, as opposed to maybe a thousand or so that were there for Taylor. The rank and file sports fan doesn't care if you look good, Beckham and Oscar draw women, the rank and file sports fan cares if you perform well and to an extent they like the ability to relate to you. Part of the popularity of fighters like Pavlik or Hatton is that they are these soft spoken blue collar guys who, at the end of the day, kind of remind you of you. That is part of the appeal of Povetkin, he is soft spoken, seems to be a bit of a dork and not too serious, and he clearly has great athletic ability while looking sort of like the average guy, in this case he looks like he could be my friend Tom's brother.
Joe Cal put 35,000 people in a stadium for his fight with Manfredo. Cotto put 20,600 people in MSG for his fight with Judah. Cotto is the very definition of un-charismatic, a lot of sports fans don't necessarily care. There are a lot of what if's here, and I don't like never ending what if's. He hasn't shown this tremendous drawing power, and until he does to say he can just seems a bit baseless. Chagaev, lacking a six pack and model looks, had 300,000 people lining the streets of Tashkent on his return home after the Valuev fight, he was already big before he won a title. Haye has a following, but it seems whenever another young heavy is talked about, Povetkin, Solis, Chagaev (I don't know why people don't see him as part of the future since he is only 28 and has a great resume) Haye's fans come out of the woodwork to tell us why these guys are ok but Haye is going to be bigger then all of them. Frankly it is getting old, especially as Haye's future is not relevant to what is happening this weekend.
Yes, but im meaning early on in his career abroad, nobody bothered or cared about Joe, especially in the usa because he looks like a postman, it was o0nly til he proved he was truly the best people took notice, i.e. in his 30's.
I have said a few times, and it is only "Haye" that disagrees, that the American market simply isn't that important anymore.
I don't care if The Ring, HBO or whatever other boxing commentators think that. America isn't the end all be all, especially when Sturm is being viewed on more televisions in Germany than the top college football teams are being viewed on televisions in America.
Yes, im aware of this. But no matter how shitty it is, for a foreign fighter to b truly respected in the boxing community worldwide, they ahve to break america.Thats just the way it is, small crowds or large crowds. Its ****ing ****, I hate it, but thats the way it is.
