Do British fans tend to overestimate Haye as a fighter?
February 21st, 2010
By Scott Gilfoid: It seems like every time I see a thread involving a heavyweight, I see comments from British fans saying that WBA heavyweight champion David Haye can beat this guy or that guy.
It doesn’t seem to matter who the heavyweight is. They think that Haye would beat them. It’s kind of interesting to see the different heavyweights that they feel that Haye can beat. The recent favorites are the Klitschko brothers.
I think Haye would have a slight chance, say 1% if either of them were to suddenly keel over from a heart ailment during the fight. But apart from that, I can’t see Haye ever beating the Klitschko brothers. It doesn’t there, though. I’ve seen threads where Haye’s fans are saying that he could beat a prime George Foreman without any problems.
It’s hard to believe anyone could think that. The thought of Haye fighting a prime Foreman is sickening. I wouldn’t want to watch it. I think the fight would last about one round. As soon as Foreman connects, it’s over. I don’t mind boxing fans having a favorite fighter and all, but some of the adoration for Haye is somewhat off putting to me. It seems like some of his fans aren’t really grounded in reality. I see Haye as a good heavyweight.
I think he’s definitely a top 20 heavyweight. I don’t see Haye as a top 5 heavyweight, though. And I personally see him as a paper champion right now. I think he gets destroyed if not by an old 38-year-old John Ruiz, then by the next opponent Haye fights unless he goes after an old and small 45-year-old light heavyweight Bernard Hopkins next.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Haye was a good cruiserweight, one of the best in the division. I would rate him in the top five for that division. However, had Haye stayed in the cruiserweight division, I think he would have been beaten by Tomasz Adamek, Steve Cunningham, O’Neil Bell, Marco Huck and Ola Afolabi. So I think it’s a good thing that Haye moved up in weight before he ended up losing to those fighters, if he ever stepped it up and fought them, that is.
Again, I think Haye is a good top 25 heavyweight, but not top tier guy. It’s nice that Haye was given a high ranking by the sanctioning bodies and then matched softly in a fight against the slow, aging Nikolay Valuev and 38-year-old Monte Barrett, but I personally don’t rate those fighters as top tier heavyweights. Now if Haye were to fight and beat the Klitschko brothers or some talented fighters like Odlanier Solis and Alexander Povetkin, then I would start to believe in him as a fighter. But he’s not fighting those guys for some reason.
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david haye has a soft chin, bottom line, so he will not fight a big-hitting or young heavyweight. when you stagger around and hold for dear life against mormeck your chin is not heavyweight material…and he doesnt have a big punch, if you got to hit mormeck on the chin 60 times to put him down, you frankly dont hit that hard…he probably hit fraggy on the chin 90 times before he ko’d him and was frequently staggered himself…..haye has to not only hurt his opponants, but he has to protect a very soft chin, he cant afford to trade…even against a light-hitting barrett he got hurt, so he will continue to hug and run and fake injuries, running from even an old, slow, soft punching valuev (and now valuev has the best chin in the division..how was it that barrett staggered and hurt valuev often but couldnt even dent vlad’s chin when they fought?)
your so biased gilfreak, even if haye did beat those guys you will still slate him as i look fowrard to slateing you when haye slaughters ruiz
@ colin ROFL!
NO I THINK WE UNDERESTIMATE YOU SCOTT FOR THE COME OF COD CRAP YOU CAN ACTUALLY COME OUT WITH,
Well done Scott. Another great article. You have successfully put me off this site completely and I will no longer be visting it. All the other writers could put some variety in their work but you just bad mouth Haye and Froch all the time with no reason or analysis and I can’t take it.
Hmph David Haye did a GREAT job of running away from Valuev. I paid 15 quid to watch a boxing match and saw a waste of money. Cruiserweight was where he should’ve stayed as he, in my opinion is not good enough to fight the Klitschkos. Ruiz is hopefully going to give David Haye a proper bout in which Haye won’t be able to RUN AWAY. He threw about 10 punches in the Valuev fight and landed with 2. Valuev looked non plussed throughout and all he could see was the money. ANY fight with Don The Corruptor King involved is a fix in my opinion and seeing Haye with his arm around King proved it to me.
If Haye won all the belts and beat every heavyweight out there by KO… Scott would write something like –
Is David Haye the worst undisputed champion of all time? He was in a division and an era with no good fighters. The Klitchkos where old, slow and Haye waited to long to fight them. Povetkin was over-rated and untested and would not make the Top 20 in an era like Mike Tyson’s or Ali’s.
- I could go on but you get the idea.
Funny how i saw David Haye at Khans last fight with a cast on his hand,or do you think that it was a pretend one?
scott u clearly have no boxing knowledge atal oniel vell would have veaten haye?haye was bell mandatory but he chose to fight a rematch against mormec and lost who haye went on to ko.fact.also ademek and cunigham would beat haye?if the can bothe drop each other do u think they would stand hayes powe?highly unlikly.i am a haye fan and think haye is the 2nd best in the devision,i see haye koing wlad but i just think vitali would be to much with his iron chin,but he rocked valuev so with that power anything can happen.
I want to address statements from the haymaker……Do you really need to refer to some of these very good fighters as bums?……Anyone who has used vial talk calling people names, the T shirt stuff that Haye pulled off, Boxing should be better than that…
Does Scott tend to underestimate every single British fighter? Yes.
Tomasz Adamek, Steve Cunningham, O’Neil Bell, Marco Huck and Ola Afolabi are all bums. Adamek is trying to make it as a Heavyweight after realising that there is noone to fight at Cruiserweight.
Let Adamek chase for a title fight at Heavyweight. Valuev old? The same old fighter that everyone said would win before the fight?
Odlanier Solis brings nothing to the table and has not even proven himself worthy of being a top 5 let alone fighting for a title. Alexander Povetkin is the only challenge apart from the Klitschko’s. If it’s not a Klitschko this year then it’s Povetkin. Next is not a mandatory which means the biggest name and biggest fight for TV. Not a bum like Solis.
you wrote:
“But he’s not fighting those guys for some reason.”
is the reason that he has a mandatory defence against ruiz? i think it is.
your personal ratings…”top twenty heavyweight”, “top five cruiserweight”…simply don’t matter. he is the wba champ. that makes him one of the top guys at heavyweight. he was undisputed cruiserweight champ. that put him at no.1…not in the “top 5″. there is opinion…& then there are facts. unfortunately for you…facts outweigh opinions.
DAVID HAYE is new era most talented,strong,fast,,tough…fighter so ‘m greatly in support of haye,,,, me neither an american nor british but still believe that HAYE will make a statement in his every single fight…if u put him in any matches either with Klitschko brothers or chris arreola, david tua,Tomasz Adamek, Eddie Chambers,Alexander Povetkin…..any of them…..
shandip rai from NEPAL….
The comments about British fans overestimating their own fighters are a bit rich, especially coming from American fans!! I personally think it is a little but of jealously. The state of the American Heavyweights is non existent and you would love to have a exciting, talented boxer like Haye as one of your own. I’m not saying Haye is a world beater and actually think he would struggle against the Klitschkos but to say he is only in the top 25 heavyweights in the world is ludicrous and smacks of jealousy big time.
I think British fans obviously are most excited about the potential of Haye firstly because he’s British and secondly because we have seen most of his fights.
Actually I think British fans are realistic when it comes to their own boxers and unlike American fans expect their own boxers to prove themselves before they start shouting about them as if they are the new p4p King of all time.
I dont think ive anybody write that they think Haye is better than a prime George Forman. I think your making that up.
I dont think you should be questioning Valuev as an opponant, what ever you think of him as a boxer is one thing but he was the world champ and now Haye has a belt.
Also theres alot of Americans that think Haye has a better chace agaisnt a Klitchko than any other boxer out there, its just this site where people cant be honest about their views and would rather write something contreversial or cynical about boxers from other nations.
IM British, im not so sure Haye could beat a Klitchko but i do know that every fight ive seen of either Vladimir or Vitali in the last 4 or 5 years have been carbon copies of themselves. Overweight and unfit opposition who plod along in survival mode after the 3rd round after realising they havnt a hope in hell and all the fights ending in pretty much the same way, late stoppage or 1 sided easy points win.
Haye would bring something completely different and you never know, the Klitchkos havnt had to face something like that for a long time.
By saying huck would have beaten haye I think you have outdone yourself once again mr giliford. I’d put that on a par with you likening dirrell with sugar ray Robinson!!!!!!!!!!!
For the record I think haye gets beaten by a real heavy that can move- vitali klitchko/possibly tua. Haye would ko wlad in 3 brutal rounds. To powerful for adamek, who I rate massively. Haye would make arreola look stupid. Completely stupid!
hudson you ass, there was no broken hand…no broken hand!!! he never wore a cast, never, a week after the fight, no cast, 2 weeks, no cast…what the hell is wrong with you people….just as there was no back injury…when you back out of a fight with an injury you provide proof, vitali brought xrays, a physicians report, which is what an honest fighter does….haye…no injury
i have watched may tapes of vlad and haye and believe that vlad is just as fast, but doesnt throw looping punches like haye. vlad can actually throw and slide, haye has to plant his feet, leans his head in and tends to get off balance….why dont you wait until he has a good performance against a real top level heavyweight before sticking your head up his ass…valuev was over 36, slow, light hitting, and clumsy, one of the worst champions in history..dont forget valuev was staggered by barrett, someone whose punches didnt even cause vlad to blink….besides valuev haye has fought barrett, not even in the top 10, now is fighting ruiz, another fighter not rated to even close to top 10 by ring magazine…
sugar you all what’s wrong with haye fans, you talk about the look in his eye, the swagger, etc. everything but boxing, this was a man who was frequently staggered at cruiserweight, even by mormeck—he was knocked down and staggered the rest of the round, desperately holding on—was lucky to win that fight…was hurt my light-hitting barrett….vlad’s jab is far harder than mormeck’s right…evidence is that vlad has a far better chin than haye, but his fans think he will magically knock out big heavyweights…it took him eight rocky rounds to knock out an old, always open to be hit, mormeck…as lewis said in ring magazine, fighting either k brother will be a disaster for david haye…dont you think lewis knows, he has sparred with him
plain and simply yes they do
david haye is a weak fighter and got lucky by having he judges feel sorry for him in the Valuev fight.
Valuev won that just because he got a little wobble in ther last round shoud have not given him the fight but it did!!
Ademik would clean up haye and any fighter out ehre he has been underestimated he will knock out Aeriola and then takeout Haye!!! with his speed skill and brut will to win!!!
HEY SHUGAR STU BALFOR, I THINK YOUR COMMENT IS PROOF ….YES THE BRITISH FANS THINK TOO MUCH OF THEIR FIGHTERS….YOUR FUNNY DUDE….
What??? Haye is a paper champion??? R we on the same planet??? The man dominated the cruiserweight division unified the main belts, and would have smashed Adamek to bits, badly. It makes me feel sick to read this post, Haye could be the best thing to happen to the heavyweight division for, at least the last decade! Or since Lewis unified the division. Wait and see there’s more to come from Haye, u can see in his eyes he’s hungry for more, I dont think the Klitschko brothers are a pushover however but I still think Haye would ko a suspect Vlad chin who can’t keep away from the Haye speed and power for more than 8 rounds, and completely devostates the older tired Vitali with speed and raw genetic BRITISH UNDISPUTED HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD power!!
“beaten by Tomasz Adamek, Steve Cunningham, O’Neil Bell, Marco Huck and Ola Afolabi???”
lol you really are a clueless donkey…
The fact is that Haye backed out of both Klitcko’s after a bunch of hollow boasting about fighting the best. Fact is he didn’t. The fact is that his win over Valuev was questionable to say the very least. What is this talk about cleaning up the Heavyweight Division. Like it or not the Klitchkos are just too dominant and good at what they do. The division will be cleaned up when Haye leaves. If you like the way he talks about other fighters and himself, well your allmost as big a fool as he is
the british fans overestimate all their fighters. thats just what they do. all i’ve ever heard is “if he fights the klitschkos”, but he never will.
Gilfoid, your bitterness eminates in your articles like a disgruntled virgin… which you probably are.
Haye outboxed Valuev and will do the same against Ruiz. Should he ever fight Vlad, we all know what Corrie Sanders, a good golfer, did to him and Haye has more power than that!
Everyone doubts haye until he beats people, didnt most people think he’d be schooled by valuev..look what happened there, he broke his hand and nearly knocked that giant down in the 12th round. Honestly, you’d be a dumbass to think haye isnt a graet heavyweight, but its the same old with these kind of boxers. I can image if/when haye beats one of the klitschko brothers then everyone will be saying “yeah hes good..but if he fought so and so back in the day then he would be beat”
Same ol rubbish Scott. Haye will make you eat your words like he did with your pre fight predictions about Barret and Valuev.
He would kill Adamek also.
Same ol same ol Scotty. You hate Haye and I can’t believe the rubbish about Adamek beating him at Cruiser. Haye is way quicker and more powerful than Adamek so this a stupid thing to say. You disregard Valuev yet his record was 52 fights with one loss and 36 knockouts. You don’t get that kind of record if you are s. I have read your fight predictions about Haye before the Barett and Valuev fights and you slated Haye saying he would get knocked out by both of them. You have no clue whatsoever and no credibility. He destroyed Barrett in great style and tactically with a broken hand took care of 7’2 Valuev and wobbled him the final round. That says to me he has dynamite in his hands and Ruiz will taste that on April 3. He will then put Hopkins into retirement and/or take on the K brohters. Yes the K brothers are brilliant fighters no doubt but Haye has said he will test their chins early and break their hearts. He will either knock them out or get knocked out.
in case you haven’t noticed there are no decent heavyweights around bar Klitschkos and David Haye. the american heavyweights are nothing short or shocking and the rest of european heavyweights are just robotic. the Klitschkos have not fought a decent heavyweight since Vitali fought Lennox Lewis so Haye would have a good chance as he has the boxing calibre as well as speed and power. don’t be mad because there is not one american heavyweight that anyone can call a contender, even you.
Scott if you are bored why don’t you just write something about Pacquiao? Then you won’t be so lonely any more! LOL.
Haye is fighting Ruiz next. Just be patient he’ll get into the ring with the Klitchkos soon enough.
To be honest Im a britsih fan and i used to overestimate Haye thinking he could ko anyone anywhere anytime but now i think he could ko most but maybe not vitali klitschko i think the smart thing for haye to do is fight wladimir pressure he right from the get go and i think he’ll ko wladimir.
Cmon Scott, you had Kevin Johnson, with his 2 inch longer reach, beating Vitali. Was that because he is American?
Scotland has the Loch ness Monster, Ireland has Leprichans, England has David Haye……of course he is overated, and so is Mr Personality Carl Froch……Be proud of Lennox Lewis and the other good guys but please get real about these two paper tigers. Haye is not worthy of mention….you will see
every set of fans ‘overestimate’ or hype there fighters a little more than necessary….pointless article. Only thing that really needs to be said about he would be the best fighter that either Klitschko has fought in the last 5-6 some odd years…TRUTH
“’I’ve seen threads where Haye’s fans are saying that he could beat a prime George Foreman without any problems” – I’ve seen articles where writers say that Andre Dirrell is RRJ, Cassius Clay and Ray Robinson rolled into one.
“I think Haye was a good cruiserweight, one of the best in the division” – Did it hurt saying that? It did didn’t it.
“Now if Haye were to fight and beat the Klitschko brothers or some talented fighters like Odlanier Solis and Alexander Povetkin, then I would start to believe in him as a fighter. But he’s not fighting those guys for some reason” – He beat Valuev and now he is fighting his mandatory. I am sure these guys are next on his shopping list.