Haye Laughs Off Harrison Fight

[Craig14]

Well put gizmo! Tua has never even put down let alone knocked out, the fight against the nigerian rapist is officially recorded as the most punches thrown in a heavyweight fight! Fair enough Lewis and Byrd fights showed he was a bit limited!! But it would be a step up in class for someone like Haye to fight tua!!!! 55 fights and only one shot at the title!!!! Thats wrong...

[Floyd]

Well put gizmo! Tua has never even put down let alone knocked out, the fight against the nigerian rapist is officially recorded as the most punches thrown in a heavyweight fight! Fair enough Lewis and Byrd fights showed he was a bit limited!! But it would be a step up in class for someone like Haye to fight tua!!!! 55 fights and only one shot at the title!!!! Thats wrong...

I think the fact that you are bringing up the Ruiz and Ibeabuchi fights says it all about Tua. What were those fights 15-13 years ago? He hasn't done f**k all since.

[Craig14]

I live in New Zealand - so would love to bring up the Shane Cameron fight but guess none of you boys have heard of him! Even fights from years ago are more than even Audley Harrison or David Haye have ever Done!!!! I'm clearly not the only one who thinks the tuaman deserves a titleshot!

[gizmo1]

I live in New Zealand - so would love to bring up the Shane Cameron fight but guess none of you boys have heard of him! Even fights from years ago are more than even Audley Harrison or David Haye have ever Done!!!! I'm clearly not the only one who thinks the tuaman deserves a titleshot!

I think we should wait at least until July 17th before we start counting our chickens. Let's see how Tua performs against Barrett and take it from there.

[oliverfennell]

Well put gizmo! Tua has never even put down let alone knocked out

Rahman had him down right at the end of their rematch.

[oliverfennell]

I live in New Zealand - so would love to bring up the Shane Cameron fight but guess none of you boys have heard of him! Even fights from years ago are more than even Audley Harrison or David Haye have ever Done!!!! I'm clearly not the only one who thinks the tuaman deserves a titleshot!

Which result of Tua's from the past EIGHT years marks him out as deserving a title shot?

I did see the Cameron fight and, yes, Tua looked awesome in it, but Cameron was not a world-rated fighter (outside of the WBO).

I wouldn't object to a Tua title shot, but I wouldn't say he "deserves" it at this moment.

[DavidPayne]

Debuting guest columnist, John Cascells is adamant the Harrison fight is viable and competitive.

Harrison v Haye - why it should happen

[whiskey]

Debuting guest columnist, John Cascells is adamant the Harrison fight is viable and competitive.

Harrison v Haye - why it should happen

Some good points there.

I agree the curiosity value would be massive.

But for me, i can't help but recall the gun-shy Harrison well beaten by Sprott until he landed a big clean shot in the dying moments.

I like Sprott, but Haye has much more pedigree - and for that reason i would see Audley even more reluctant to engage, terrified he would be photographed prostrate on the front page of every sunday red top newspaper.

[oliverfennell]

But for me, i can't help but recall the gun-shy Harrison well beaten by Sprott until he landed a big clean shot in the dying moments.

Nice bloke Danny Williams wins fight one-handed via dramatic, from-nowhere one-punch KO = hero, most remarkable thing we've ever seen in a British ring, etc, etc.

Harrison does same = let's not mention it, eh?

[DavidPayne]

Exactly.

[GlobalBox]

I think Haye is just waiting for the Klitschko's to announce they are fighting someone else as there next fights and then the Harrison fight will be announced.

Wlad has just done that with Povetkin, Vitali is tying up loose ends with Valuev and then Haye/Harrison will be made with comments like, The Klits don't want it again, what am I supposed to do etc etc.

November 13th - would be my guess on the fightdate

[whiskey]

But for me, i can't help but recall the gun-shy Harrison well beaten by Sprott until he landed a big clean shot in the dying moments.

Nice bloke Danny Williams wins fight one-handed via dramatic, from-nowhere one-punch KO = hero, most remarkable thing we've ever seen in a British ring, etc, etc.

Harrison does same = let's not mention it, eh?

That's one way of looking at it and Audley should be commended for his efforts- but Danny was not being mauled against the ropes for 11.5 rounds by a man who'd already knocked him through space and time in their previous fight.

Sprott won their first fight without question and was well onto his way to win the second one too. Everyone would summise that fight as Sprott being caught with a very lucky shot, by a very lucky opponent.

Maybe things would have panned out differently if Audley's arm didn't give him trouble, who knows. But injuries do occur and you get on with it, or get out. Audley chose the former option and fair play to him.

But in closing, I've seen him gun shy more than I've seen him aggressive in the ring, when facing anyone of his own level.

I like Audley, he seems a good egg. But he has an excuse for every poor showing - some legit like this one, some not quite so legit.

[DavidPayne]

But for me, i can't help but recall the gun-shy Harrison well beaten by Sprott until he landed a big clean shot in the dying moments.

Nice bloke Danny Williams wins fight one-handed via dramatic, from-nowhere one-punch KO = hero, most remarkable thing we've ever seen in a British ring, etc, etc.

Harrison does same = let's not mention it, eh?

That's one way of looking at it and Audley should be commended for his efforts- but Danny was not being mauled against the ropes for 11.5 rounds by a man who'd already knocked him through space and time in their previous fight.

Sprott won their first fight without question and was well onto his way to win the second one too. Everyone would summise that fight as Sprott being caught with a very lucky shot, by a very lucky opponent.

Maybe things would have panned out differently if Audley's arm didn't give him trouble, who knows. But injuries do occur and you get on with it, or get out. Audley chose the former option and fair play to him.

But in closing, I've seen him gun shy more than I've seen him aggressive in the ring, when facing anyone of his own level.

I like Audley, he seems a good egg. But he has an excuse for every poor showing - some legit like this one, some not quite so legit.

But Audley wasn't caught by a lucky shot, thrown with his eyes facing the canvas?

[charlieb]

Maybe that's because Williams hadn't already burnt bridge after bridge with the viewing public prior to beating a man he should've dispatched at the first time of asking.

Besides, that heroic performance didn't fanangle a world title shot for Williams. Audley might have the euro belt now, but it was definitely a domestic affair.

Good on Haye for putting the kibosh on this foolishness.

[DavidPayne]

Maybe that's because Williams hadn't already burnt bridge after bridge with the viewing public prior to beating a man he should've dispatched at the first time of asking.

Besides, that heroic performance didn't fanangle a world title shot for Williams. Audley might have the euro belt now, but it was definitely a domestic affair.

Good on Haye for putting the kibosh on this foolishness.

Erm....didn't Williams clown his way to defeat against Sprott once before. Didn't he constantly eat himself out of contention? Didn't he pull out of a fight for no discernible reason the night before ITV debut'd boxing again?

Williams earned his stripes but to suggest fans haven't turned a blind eye to his cock-ups and failings is a bit of a stretch.

What about the time he dumped trainer Jim Mc and trained on his own, forced to pull on his gloves with his teeth for sparring with, I think, Wayne Llewellyn?

Williams has had his moments. Audley has irked with his negativity and delusion but he's perservered in exactly the same way.

[charlieb]

Maybe that's because Williams hadn't already burnt bridge after bridge with the viewing public prior to beating a man he should've dispatched at the first time of asking.

Besides, that heroic performance didn't fanangle a world title shot for Williams. Audley might have the euro belt now, but it was definitely a domestic affair.

Good on Haye for putting the kibosh on this foolishness.

Erm....didn't Williams clown his way to defeat against Sprott once before. Didn't he constantly eat himself out of contention? Didn't he pull out of a fight for no discernible reason the night before ITV debut'd boxing again?

Williams earned his stripes but to suggest fans haven't turned a blind eye to his cock-ups and failings is a bit of a stretch.

What about the time he dumped trainer Jim Mc and trained on his own, forced to pull on his gloves with his teeth for sparring with, I think, Wayne Llewellyn?

Williams has had his moments. Audley has irked with his negativity and delusion but he's perservered in exactly the same way.

Sorry, don't see any comparison. The level of expectation wasn't there for Williams in the same way it was with Audley. Dumping a trainer and failing to adequately prepare isn't as irksome as spewing verbal diarrhea without a glimmer of backing it up, repeatedly. Williams was guilty of having too much humility for a boxer, quite the opposite of Audley, at least in plain sight.

That's all a distraction though, Williams wasn't gifted a world title shot courtesy of a brave domestic performance, Audley shouldn't get one either.

[DavidPayne]

Agreed. But he deserves some credit for the Sprott victory.

[charlieb]

Agreed. But he deserves some credit for the Sprott victory.

You're right. Audley's shown a distinct lack of heart in previous encounters, he should get credit. Maybe he's turned the corner.

[oliverfennell]

But for me, i can't help but recall the gun-shy Harrison well beaten by Sprott until he landed a big clean shot in the dying moments.

Nice bloke Danny Williams wins fight one-handed via dramatic, from-nowhere one-punch KO = hero, most remarkable thing we've ever seen in a British ring, etc, etc.

Harrison does same = let's not mention it, eh?

That's one way of looking at it and Audley should be commended for his efforts- but Danny was not being mauled against the ropes for 11.5 rounds by a man who'd already knocked him through space and time in their previous fight.

Sprott won their first fight without question and was well onto his way to win the second one too. Everyone would summise that fight as Sprott being caught with a very lucky shot, by a very lucky opponent.

Maybe things would have panned out differently if Audley's arm didn't give him trouble, who knows. But injuries do occur and you get on with it, or get out. Audley chose the former option and fair play to him.

But in closing, I've seen him gun shy more than I've seen him aggressive in the ring, when facing anyone of his own level.

I like Audley, he seems a good egg. But he has an excuse for every poor showing - some legit like this one, some not quite so legit.

Of course your criticisms of some of Harrison's past performances are valid, but I'm merely saying that there were very legit reasons for him being down on points in Sprott 2, but all people go on about is the fact he WAS down on points, rather than WHY. Whether or not the fight would have gone a similar way without the injury is moot -to suggest the injury had no bearing on Harrison's performance (especially as a southpaw) is ridiculous.

And returning to Danny Williams, while his bravery has been displayed umpteen times, don't forget he too has had more than his fair share of disappointing/tentative/nervous/downright inexplicable performances. He, too, has lost to Sprott, and in making the Harrison-Sprott/Williams-Potter comparison, I'd wager Potter was a lesser talent than Sprott (and certainly when they fought this was borne out). And OK, Williams wasn't outworked by Potter for "11.5 rounds" (a farcically generous score for Sprott), but he was outworked for 4 or 5 of the 6. Oh yeah, I forgot, he hurt his arm, but who's to say Potter wouldn't have been winning the fight anyway...