Prime Jirov vs. Haye at Cruiserweight

If Jirov was less versatile that night, it was because of Toney.
On his trainer advice, Jirov tried to move his head but that is difficult against Toney's accurate counter shots.

He did not move his feet because the startegy was to outhustle the lazy Toney and setting a fast pace. Jirov nearly succeeded at that.

Jirov was definintely in his prime for this fight, physically and skillswise. I believe Toney was already past his prime but he came prepared.

 

Jirov performed well enough against Toney. As a matter of fact he believes he won the fight. As for Haye, what we know about him is that he doesn't like being pressured. Jirov's high pressure style gives him a natural advantage.

 

I disagree. I believe that version suffered an injury a year or so prior to the fight and was relatively inactive leading up to the Toney fight. The fight itself was a classic, but I don't think Jirov was at his absolute best, based on comments made by the commentators about the recent history of both fighters leading up to that fight.

 

Also guys we have to remember that Jirov is an olympic gold medalist.

 

I'll take you to task on this.

The right way to fight James Toney is to stay away from him, plain and simple. Movement beats Toney.

The strategy to come straight in and outhustle was the wrong one. Jirov, although a straight in fighter, had demonstrated the skills in the past to fight a different kind of fight againt James. "Moving your head" is not enough. If you are throwing punches in a linear line into Toney's range, you are walking right into his trap.

That said, Jirov fought a great fight that night with he had at the time, strategically flawed or not. It just wasn't enough. It wasn't enough partially because Jirov was not in his prime for this fight, and partially just because Toney was better.

If you want to see the best version of Jirov go back to 1999 and 2000, before he was up to 200 pounds and had injuries. That version was more mobile and sharper.

As far as Toney, I don't think he was that far past his prime, never mind his age and number of fights up to that point. My personal opinion is that Toney's absolute prime weight was 190-200 pounds. He wasn't weight drained, had tremendous stamina, was in great shape with not the body mass he has at heavyweight, and physically strong but still retained much of the quickness and hand speed.

The version of Toney that beat Adolpho Washington would beat pretty much any Cruiserweight with the possible exception of Holyfield. The 2003 Toney wasn't too far from this, maybe a slight tick off, but not far.

So, I'd disagree with your assessments of both fighters at the time they met.

 

Toss up fight.

Jirov has a good style to fight David Haye. David struggled with Fragomeni and Mormeck the most, these were smaller, compact come forward fighters. They neutralised David's power by not allowing him to get full extension and leverage on his shots.

Jirov is a bit taller, and quite easy to hit, but I still think his style gives him a better chance than trying to box Haye. You have to get in close and make him work all the time, keep out of his punching range by staying in close. If he could survive the early storm, maybe he could grind Haye down and stop him.

Haye could also catch him with something huge because Jirov was never a great defensive fighter, and he certainly has more power than Toney.

 

I think Haye wins by knockout in 4 rounds.

 

Jirov in 10.

Jirov would be able to take Hayes best, and he would beat Hayes body and grind him down to a stoppage.

Plus for anyone who talks about Hayes boxing ability, remember Jirov is an olympic gold medalist.

 

I'd back Jirov in this one. If David Haye were to have a prayer he'd have to get the job done early, and I don't think he'd be able to. I think Jirov weathers the storm early and catches up to Haye by the 7th were a brutal accumulated stoppage.

 

You made some interesting comments.

I disagree with the following point.

You state that movements give Toney more trouble than a pressure style. True, but movements from masterboxers like Nunn and Roy Jones have given Toney trouble but Jirov is not a masterboxer. Jirov did fight the style where he is at his best. On the few occasions Jirov did elect to box during the fight he was still getting the worst by getting hit with that straight
right hand. It is easy to say now that he should have boxed more, fact he was giving Toney all he could handle with his pressuer style. It is just very hard to beat Toney when he is right movement or not.