Is Haye in for a rude awakening?

[FLINT ISLAND]

What makes hims so confident?

Oh jesus, I can see the headlines now "Contender For World Heavyweight Title Feeling Confident"

How the fvck is he meant to feel? "Oooh he's big isn't he? I'm really scared and can't sleep at night"

Good old internet.

LOl. the same old crap .

No its not the same old crap

The guy who wrote that post was too eager to slag my thread off and make me look bad

He did not grasp the meaning of the thread

It was not is Haye confident - every fighter is confident - or sounds confident - even Bruno against Tyson

It was do you believe that Haye has good reason to be confident or do you feel his confidence is a deluded one

On the night will Haye's confidence be shocked by a rude awakening of what he is up against?

Bruno in the second Tyson fight sounded so confident and determined - and on the night he had a painful reality check that his confidence was a empty one really as there was no solid reason for him to really be able to live with Tyson and he got destroyed

Haye is talking alot of crap and trash and is confident of a "masscare" against Wlad but on the night just before the fight or during the fight will Haye be dealt a rude awakening that his confidence was misplaced and he has bitten more off than he can chew

A good example of this is Enzo Maccarenelli against David Haye

Enzo sounded really confident throughout the 10 week build up

Even at the weigh in Enzo seemed relaxed and smiling and joking

But on the night Enzo's confidence drained away from him

He ran to the ring

He fought scared

and when he started getting nailed with right hands he was in some shock of what he was up against

now is Haye gonna taste the same medicine?

[FLINT ISLAND]

I have actually made open prediction that Haye KO Wlad in 5 rounds

I done this not to sit on the fence

However I could be getting this very wrong

I have gone for Hayes speed and movement to keep him out of trouble and power to eventually nail Wlad

I have no doubt that Haye does have the power to KO Wlad - but he has to nail him - and he has to avoid Wlad's power and that is going to take a lot of energy keeping a big guy off him like that

Haye might be out of his depth here - that is the worry - the opening round will tell alot - can he even be competitive with Wlad?

If its a even fight - Hayes bigger heart and desire will win - but Wlad holds all the aces - and this could be a case of a big powerful heavyweight champion dismantling a former good but vunerable Crusierweight champion

Remeber Vitali was too much for a former cgood cruiserweight NO 1 in his last fight

But no - I'm not sitting on the fence

I'm going for Hayes speed and elusivness to keep him out of troule and his speed and power to nail Wlad and KO 5 win for Haye

So you're not sitting on the fence, but it could go either way?

I am not sitting on the fence

In any competitive fight - it could go either way

Would not surprise me who got KO'd here

But I am not sitting on the fence

Because I have made my prediction clear

Life is about making decsions

And while of course there is a strong possibilty Wlad will KO Haye

My prediction is a clear black and white

Haye KO 5 Wlad

I'm on Haye side of the fence to pull it off with his speed and power and crucially his elusivness

[superpunchout]

Every factor I can think of points to a fairly comfortable Wlad victory in the first half of the fight, but Haye seems so utterly covinced that he can get the job done that he's close to making me a believer.

Win or lose, I hope he is able to make a good enough account of himself to avoid being brushed off as mere hype. Given what he has accomplished at cruiserweight, it would be an injustice for him to be remembered exclusively as a Klitschko victim.

[FLINT ISLAND]

Every factor I can think of points to a fairly comfortable Wlad victory in the first half of the fight, but Haye seems so utterly convinced making me a believer

I know exactly what you mean by this

The thing is about this is I have been around following boxing long enough to know that talk is cheap

Fighters in big fights always convince themselves they will win - always 100% confident - always talking like victory has already been granted

Frank Bruno talked so much postive obssessive brain washing confidence in the weeks leading up to the Mike Tyson fight but he was destroyed on the night

the reason why I made this thread is dealing with this point

there is a difference between what I feel is real confidence and what I feel is forced confidence

real confidence was Haye against Maccarenelli where Haye seem calm and assured of victory throughout the build up and on the night danced and smiled his way to the ring and then blasted Maccarenelli to bits inside 2 rounds

forced confidence would be the opposite - Maccarenelli telling himself for weeks and weeks that he was going to win that he was the man - telling everyone he was going to punch a hole in Hayes head - and then on the night he shits himself and runs to the ring , fights scared, gets shocked by right hands - and then gets blasted to pieces

forced confidence was Bruno talking all the shit that there was no way possible that Tyson could beat him in the
rematch trying to convince himself more than anyone else then on the night he shat his pants and crossed himself a million times befoe being brutally outclassed and destroyed inside 3 rounds

forced confidence was Naz talking all the shit of KO Barrera in a few rounds then on the night shitting himself in the dressing room and stalling the fight by playing with his gloves and then getting beaten fair and square

talk is real cheap - its not about who sounds the best at the press conference

the real test is always on fight night - thats when the talk is over and reality kicks in - and thats when you see the difference between talking good and having real confidence

[cagray]

Haye's confidence is vast just like Froch's. I actually like this. It isn't like this is the first fight he has talked himself up so much. He always does it. It is his style and I will take it over Wlad's utterly soul destroying demeanor (clearly Wlad's own trainer Manny agrees too!) and fighting style.

Wlad is massive however Haye has so much that Wlad has not faced, possibly ever or since Corrie Sanders. Despite his vast fight history so many have been against slow, out of shape, plodding b-class heavyweights. I also think Wlad is nothing compared to Vitalli (mainly due to fighting heart and chin) and hence why they agreed to let Vitalli fight him first till the WBC intervened. Wlad will be nervous as he knows he has been down multiple times from techincally lesser fighters and this is his one career defining fight. I don't believe for a second Wlad has the mentality for boxing at the highest level but his size, power and good technique in a mediocre division goes a very long way. He is in with a very fast, confident, technically good and powerful fighter who has a lot of heart and will come in in stunning condition. For me Wlad has a lot more to lose than Haye out of this and given his history will be the lesser in terms of confidence and more nervous.

Haye speed, ability to hit from angles and with such power makes me think Haye by 6.

I know Haye could easily get sparked also but I think the chin issues are blown out of proportion (and Haye likes this as it encourages fighters to take risks as they fear his power so want rid of him). Bar carl thompson which was very early in his career every other time he has been down has been 50%punch 50% off balance due to the way he fights and moves. Mormeck, while a legit kd he was moving back and off balance. Same with Barrett. He never was actually in trouble I thought.

[Old bones Ian]

Wlad does have a sharp mind though, and he sticks to a game plan, which is why he's hard to beat.
Corrie Sanders beat Wlad by landing a huge punch early, and just jumping on him after that.
The loss to Brewster is still an odd one, Wlad does claim he was drugged, and he hasn't shown any stamina problems since then.

Haye is trying to get wind Wlad up so that he comes out firing and trys to knock Haye out, if that happens then either he does KO Haye, or Haye lands a big shot , or Wlad runs out of steam.

I just think that Wlad has learnt from his defeats, changed his style so that he can last the distance and land damaging punches late in a fight.

[cagray]

Yea, I don't disagree with you at all.

I think I am swayed and probably others by the fact that the HW division needs saved and I think disposing of Wlad is a key part to this. HW has been through one of , or quite probably the worst period in its history and I just get the feeling things are changing and the old rubbish are (hopefully) being forgotten. Wlad vs Sultan was a disgrace and wish somehow he could have been banned for that. Surely it is illegal to slap your opponents fist out the way for 12 rounds! Nevermind when he also was putting his knee down multiple times to avoid getting hit again by Peters! Wlad and Vitalli are a cut above the rest just now but they are bad for the sport, well Wlad is at least as his fighting style is so dull. I think the lack of opposition has played a part in this but when he gets a real fight he goes into a shell.

So as good as Wlad is I really really want Haye to win. Lets face it, it is the first time the HW division has had excitement in it for a long time. Haye brings that and at least he is not a joker like Arreola. If Haye gets disposed of I am not sure who is left to sort things out.