By Barry Holbrook: David Haye is picking Anthony Joshua to defeat Oleksandr Usyk on September 25th in a one-sided match, and he’s also leaning in the direction of Tyson Fury to defeat Deontay Wilder in their trilogy match on October 9th.
‘The Hayemaker’ Haye believes that IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) has too much size, speed, weight, and power for the smaller former undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk (18-0, 13 KOs) to have a shot at beating him next month.
Usyk has only fought twice at heavyweight since moving up to the division in 2019. He didn’t look particularly overwhelming in his last fight, squeaking by Derek Chisora by a 12 round split decision last October.
Haye thinks that the only shot at the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Usyk has of winning on September 25th is if Joshua chooses to box him for 12 rounds.
In that type of fight, Usyk has a chance of winning because of his boxing skills. But barring that, Joshua wins rather easily, says Haye.
We don’t know whether Joshua’s chronically poor stamina will cause him problems against Usyk as it has in his fights with Dillian Whyte, Wladimir Klitschko, Andy Ruiz Jr, Alexander Povetkin, and Carlos Takam.
Haye says Usyk gives Joshua no problems
“Not much,” said David Haye to iFL TV when asked how much of a problem can Usyk present to Joshua in their fight on September 25th.
“If Joshua decides to have a tit-for-tat boxing match in just jabbing and scoring points, then he could have some trouble, but he’s not stupid enough to do that.
“He’s just going to use his beautiful jab, and his height & reach advantage, size, and weight advantage, his punch power advantage, and his physical advantage and advantage to receive punches from big heavyweights.
“He’s [Joshua] just better all-around [than Usyk]. It’s just going to be pretty devastating. I’ve seen it in my head. I’ve said it a couple of times before.
“He’s going to hit him with a one-two and might not even land a one-two, but he’s going to come across with a left cross and a nice jab to put him down and out. It’ll be one of the two,” Haye said.
Hopefully, Haye’s judgment about Usyk isn’t clouded by seeing what he did to his former fighter Chisora. I mean, Haye was Chisora’s manager, and that had to be tough for him to watch Usyk beat him last October.
David giving Wilder a chance against Fury
“You’ve got to give Deontay Wilder a chance against anybody,” said Haye when asked if he’s giving Wilder a chance in his trilogy match with Tyson Fury.
“Just watch their first fight. Anyone that punches [as hard as Wilder]. He hasn’t lost his punch power, and Tyson Fury’s chin hasn’t gotten any better.
“It’s just about how have they lived their lives since this point, how much training has gone on and how much focus has been there,” said Haye on whether Fury and Wilder have stayed in shape during the 18 months they’ve been out of the ring since their rematch last year in February 2020.
“It’s unknown. On paper, you’d have to say off the strength of the last fight, I was ringside watching that fight, and Tyson Fury put forth one of the best performances from a British heavyweight challenging for a world title, which is what he was doing in challenging for the WBC title.
“He won it in the exact fashion he said he was going to. He’s going to walk across the ring, he’s going to put it on him, and he’s going to bash him up.
“Can he [Fury] do it again with the same tactics? Maybe, we’ll find out. I don’t know. Is Tyson Fury better now than he was back then?
“Has he got the added confidence after beating him, or is he overconfident over time.
“Has Wilder learned from that first loss, and has he improved? It’s completely unknown. They haven’t boxed for a long time. It’s a long time since Vegas,” Haye said.
Wilder’s punching power gives him a chance of beating Fury or any heavyweight on the planet if he lands cleanly.
Fury will need to make sure he hurts Wilder early like he did last time in the third round, and then he can do whatever he wants once Deontay’s legs are gone.
Many boxing fans forget that Wilder’s legs were gone after he was knocked down in the third, and that’s why he couldn’t generate any power on his shots.
We don’t know whether Wilder was on the level about his ring-walk costume weakening his legs. But if Wilder was serious about that excuse, that further explains why he was wobbling all over the ring and could not get any power on his right-hand shots.
Fury likely wins, says the ‘Hayemaker’
The sooner the fight happens, the better. It keeps getting moved back, pushed back,” said Haye on the Fury vs. Wilder 3 fight being moved to October 9th.
“Why the fight didn’t happen this time around? The juror is still out on that, but I’m really excited about that fight.
“I don’t write Wilder off completely, but you’re only as good as your last fight. And in the last fight, Wilder didn’t have any success whatsoever.
“The first fight, it was kind of 50-50. It was a draw with arguments one way or another, but the last fight was so one-sided that it’s hard to see what Wilder can do to turn it around.
“But this is boxing, and when you can punch as hard as Wilder, you can’t write him off.
“Fury sleeps proving the public wrong, he keeps ripping up the script, and he keeps doing his thing.
“He’s definitely on a roll if you look at his results, and I’m looking forward to it.
“But I see Fury winning this fight, but you never write off someone that punches as hard in the heavyweight division as Deontay Wilder,” Haye said.
If Fury is in the same condition as last time, he beats Wilder fairly easily on October 9th. It’s worrisome that Fury is rumored to have been beaten up by his sparring partner Jared Anderson during his aborted training camp for the July 24th fight, which was postponed after Tyson came down with COVID-19.
With the rumors of Fury getting beaten up by Anderson in training, boxing fans believe the real reason for the Wilder trilogy fight being postponed is because he wasn’t physically ready.
Haye making huge money for Fournier fight
“I’d only do it for good pay-per-view money, and that’s what he brought to the table,” said Haye about his September 11th fight against his friend Joe Fournier.
“It’s crazy; it’s more than what I got for Bellew 1. I know, that’s what I’m saying. It’s crazy dough. What am I going to say? ‘No, I’m not going to fight Joe for that.’
“What are people going to think if I didn’t fight him for that? They’re going to think I have something wrong with me. I don’t.
“I’m really healthy, so I just got to go through the motions and do what I do and let the universe even itself out. No, it doesn’t go eight rounds. No, I can’t help but to hurt my opponent,” said Haye.
It would be interesting to know exactly how much money Haye will be getting for his September 11th fight against Joe Fournier on Triller PPV. If it’s millions, that be shocking given how low-level the fight is.
Haye vs. Fournier is the chief support for the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Vitor Belfort fight on September 11th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Haye-Fournier will be an eight round professional fight, which isn’t expected to go the distance.