Has David Haye become irrelevant to boxing?

[PredatorHayds]

He was never the same after that horrific toe injury.

[Fuzzy Warbles]

He was never the same after that horrific toe injury.

Career ender . .

[chad]

He's had 1 fight in the past 4 years. For me he's no longer a boxer. He's a pundit / celebrity.

[PredatorHayds]

He was never the same after that horrific toe injury.

Career ender . .

He looked to of recovered but the nail went during the Fury camp.

[Fuzzy Warbles]

He was never the same after that horrific toe injury.

Career ender . .

He looked to of recovered but the nail went during the Fury camp.

Poor Dave :(

[palooka]

He's had 1 fight in the past 4 years. For me he's no longer a boxer. He's a pundit / celebrity.

me too, Chad - he's on something this week called secret word or something like that.

[mickey1975]

He's not a nice man. He pulled a show and then went on ITV the same night. Blatant. He couldn't care less about the fans.

[keithmoonhangover]

He's not a nice man. He pulled a show and then went on ITV the same night. Blatant. He couldn't care less about the fans.

Do you really think he faked a cut and had surgery just to get out of fighting Fury?

[palooka]

He's not a nice man. He pulled a show and then went on ITV the same night. Blatant. He couldn't care less about the fans.

Do you really think he faked a cut and had surgery just to get out of fighting Fury?

He's a feather duster man.

[Syntax Error]

Even if he announced a comeback today, would anyone actually believe him enough to buy tickets for his next fight? I certainly wouldn't.

Me neither.

I'm done with David Haye.

Don't get me wrong, I won't switch off if he actually does ever fight again, but I won't be paying to watch him fight ever again & I say that as someone who has watched a fair few of his fights live.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Even if he announced a comeback today, would anyone actually believe him enough to buy tickets for his next fight? I certainly wouldn't.

Me neither.

I'm done with David Haye.

Don't get me wrong, I won't switch off if he actually does ever fight again, but I won't be paying to watch him fight ever again & I say that as someone who has watched a fair few of his fight live.

Same here - think I saw him fight live 4 times in all, wouldn't pay for a ticket now. No confidence the fight would materialise.

[Counter-puncher]

He's not a nice man. He pulled a show and then went on ITV the same night. Blatant. He couldn't care less about the fans.

Do you really think he faked a cut and had surgery just to get out of fighting Fury?

He's a feather duster man.

to say the least

[mickey1975]

I mean an evening with show he pulled. Someone on here was selling tickets. Then he popped up as a pundit. He truly is a feather duster man.

[sharpei_louis]

He was one of my favourite fighters - naturally talented, bags of power and at one stage in his career fearless and prepared to fight anyone.

Then as has been said got money and even 'psychology' orientated and began to think that the business of the sport would define his legacy rather than who he beat in the ring. Once you get into the risk/reward calculations and put the promoter's hat on, it changes you I think.

When I think of him at his best I'm gutted he ended up moving his career this way and becoming such a divisive character. Could have been a real warrior and contender if he'd have been prepared to fight his way through the heavyweight division and keep him relevant.

[davie]

He's now in a position where he can't walk straight back into the kind of fight he wants to be involved in

but he thinks he should be able to, feels he's entitled even and probably has no interest in earning a top level fighgt the good old fashioned way.

He doesn't even have the support of the fans now after many years of pissing about

This.

Haye is only interested in a direct shot at a title - which he no longer has any realistic chance of getting. No way is he going to work his way to a title shot.

I doubt we will see him in a boxing ring again. In 18 months Joshua is going to be in a position to fight for a title, or thereabouts - maybe sooner - by then, Haye will have become a distant memory.

He probably won't, in 18 months he'll probably still be talking himself up for a big return for a title shot and we'll still be debating whether deserves it

[ThereByTheGrace]

Yes. Hope he comes back and gets a good beat down in his comeback fight.

[Monte Fisto]

Sadly i think he has. I think he will threaten a few fights, but never follow through.

[Maxsplit]

In the last 5 years, David Haye has TWO victories:

1) Audley Harrison
2) Dereck Chisora

[ILikeBeer]

In another years time will he be able to get back into the mix? It seems unlikely.

I'd go with no. He's not getting any younger, and already hasn't boxed in three years. Logically, with his age and ring rust it'd seem hard for him to come back and do anything to useful in the division in a year's time.

The one thing slightly in his favour is that the heavyweight division is so rubbish at the moment, and Klitschko isn't a young man himself. Haye might be able to grab a title if he lucks into a title shot against a mediocre champion.

Either way though, this conversation is redundant. I would be amazed if you ever saw Haye in a boxing ring again. There's absolutely no way he's coming back.

[banjo]

He's become a figure of fun to boxing fans more than irrelevant. I certainly take everything he says with a hint of cynicism nowadays.

[ILikeBeer]

I'm surprised he hasn't tried getting a fight with arreola made by now.

I think Arreola's got his eye on the next Prizefighter.

I didn't know there was going to be another Prize Fighter?

[Sklar]

My understanding is that Haye's shoulder is still not right. He is maintaining his public profile and because of that is, in the big scheme of things, still relevant as a 'boxer'. If he could get his body through a full training camp (no guarantee due to chronic injury) when another Brit wants a pay day, he's still the best option.

[Controversial]

My understanding is that Haye's shoulder is still not right. He is maintaining his public profile and because of that is, in the big scheme of things, still relevant as a 'boxer'. If he could get his body through a full training camp (no guarantee due to chronic injury) when another Brit wants a pay day, he's still the best option.

Yeah I think his shoulder is knackered and although he's saying it's great it isn't. He's probably hoping a rest will sort it and that's why he hasn't had a fight.

[revporl]

I think the Wlad fight really damaged him psychologically, it was such a shut out and he looked tentative and intimidated for every tedious second of it.

We talk about David Price losing confidence after his first defeat (and subsequent ones) to the extent that he no longer seems to have the mindset to step into the ring, but I do think it's the same for Haye, he just hides it better.

[johnswan1]

I don't think Haye cares whether boxing fans think he's relevant or not. He was always chasing celebrity - didn't he want to retire at 30 so that he could go on and become an actor?

He seems far more concerned with whether he is relevant in the showbiz world. He's been living these past few years in comfort knowing he can give other (showbiz related) interests a crack and still be young enough to come back to boxing if he needs to. He also knows that he becomes a lot more relevant after Wlad retires as nobody is interested in a rematch.

He has made good money in the sport, certainly enough for him to live very comfortably for the rest of his life, and I think his ego will be the only thing that results in a comeback, but only if he feels he is no longer a relevant celebrity.

Any vague comments he makes about coming back are merely an attempt to keep his options open and his name fresh in peoples minds.