Haye’s lack of size sure did hurt him at heavyweight

By Boxing News - 10/11/2011 - Comments

Image: Haye's lack of size sure did hurt him at heavyweightBy Scott Gilfoid: Whether former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (25-2, 23 KO’s) continues his career or not, his legacy will perhaps forever be tarnished by his dismal performance against IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, a fight in which Haye fought a lot like a timid rabbit running around and trying to get hit.

But besides his unwillingness to mix it in fights against Wladimir and 7-foot Nikolay Valuev, Haye’s limited size has to be the main reason why he just couldn’t get the job done when he was put under the bright lights in Germany in his loss to Klitschko.

At only 6’2″ 217 lbs, Haye was little more than a pumped up cruiserweight facing mostly hand-picked old guys at heavyweight until he fought Wladimir and got royally spanked. Although listed at 6’3″, Haye stood looked at least four to five inches shorter than the 6’6″ Wladimir last July 2nd and it looked almost like Wladimir facing a cruiserweight during a sparring session. Haye never even attempted to make a fight of it and just ran around the ring, sometimes flopping and looking at the referee for support in his battle. It was truly sad.

If the loss to Wladimir is Haye’s final fight it’ll be a tragedy to be sure, but it was the best Haye could do. When you go out and try your best and end up looking like clueless, it’s still all good. At least Haye gave it his best shot in finally stepping it up against the quality of the heavyweight division after two years of facing lesser fighters.

One would hope that Haye doesn’t retire until after he faces Vitali Klitschko. That would be a good fight to see with Haye hopefully not bellyaching about a broken toe or some other injury this time.



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