Hopkins: I’d spot David Haye a 20 pound [weight] advantage

By Boxing News - 07/27/2011 - Comments

By Sean McDaniel: 46-year-old Bernard Hopkins was disgusted with David Heye’s inept performance against IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in Haye’s 12 round decision defeat on July 2nd. Hopkins said he would give Haye a 20 pound advantage and face him in a fight.

The question is would Haye take the fight? I could see this being an interesting fight if Haye could summon enough motivation to accept it. There was talk in the past of Hopkins kicking around the idea of fighting Haye, but a lot of boxing fans saw it as a mismatch, saying that the 180 pound Hopkins’ frame was too small for him to compete with the 6’2” 210 pound Haye, but I’m not so sure.

Hopkins, with excellent inside fighting skills, would likely try to get inside on Haye and beat him on the inside. Haye had problems against the much bigger 6’6” Wladimir, who was able to use his long arms to jab Haye on the outside and steer him around when he would come in close. Hopkins wouldn’t be able to do all that. He would be the smaller guy looking to close the distance and force the action.

However, Hopkins has always been good at getting in close and with Haye not one to use his jab much, Hopkins would be all over Haye from round one, forcing him to fight an uncomfortable inside war that Haye not be ready for.

Haye could end up getting badly humiliated by the smaller Hopkin. Against a big heavyweight like Wladimir, Haye had a built in excuse that Wladimir was too big for him to compete against. However, against a smaller, older Hopkins, Haye would be without any excuse whatsoever and would be in the position where he couldn’t blame a loss on anything other than Hopkins being too good for him.

Haye doesn’t have much in the way of boxing skills to speak of. He lives and dies by his pot shot knockouts. Haye might have a had time trying to land his amateurish hayemaker shots against a skilled fight like Hopkins. I’m sure Haye could take Hopkins’ shots for a little while, but if he gets in close and puts a steady beating on Haye for any length of time, we could see another Carl Thompson type loss for Haye. But at least Haye would get another big payday before he retires from boxing.



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