Sorry Terrence. But no one is paying for the undercard. On top of that the undercard didn't have one competitive fight on it. Just Jamie Moore bashing up a typical Belgian import and young novices cleaning the clocks of guys who can't master the basics.Terence wrote:I was there for British Boxing.net (report should be up) and firstly it was fooking roasting in there, I felt like dipping my feet in the ice-buckets.
Haye did disappoint but in his last two fights there has been a certain method and it seems he is changing his style to ensure that the Thompson fight is not repeated. Most of us could go 36 minutes on a heavy bag as the fact the bag is stationary means less movement even if you move around it, throw in the heat ring lights and the opponent and it is natural Haye will be wary of his first 12 rounds. He now knows he can do it in an easy fight (something I feel he was unsure about, and you can't take that into a title fight) so now he can find out if he can do it in a hard fight, it is about building yourself up. If you do a ten mile run you are going to be knackered the first time and will do it slowly but at least you find out you can do it and how comfortable you feel.
Watching the fight I thought it would go from jabs early, then onto 1-2's, then onto combos and then a few rounds of concerted effort to finish but it didn't happen that way. At first it looked like he was building things up but in retrospect it seems he was just seeing what a real 12 rounds is like.
It wasn't the most outrageous thing I've ever seen. His movement is good and even when he doesn't do much you can see the quality. Down the line we may see him in a hard 12 rounds but should he be having hard rounds at this level? I'd say no.
As for the booing, fair enough if you've paid your money to watch a show but on the other hand undercards are there to provide a mixture. Many who paid will be boxing fans and got to see some good boxing. Some will have paid specifically for Haye and if they are Haye fans they'll forgive him as soon as he gets another KO. Haye had to go 12 some time and better to do it now instead of in a big fight.
I'd rather have this, quiet main event and a decent card, than some of the cards I've seen where the main is short-lived and the undercard dire.
FACT is that Haye could have done much more and that is by his own admission. That fight does absolutely nothing for him. The excuses of the heat and the lights and all of that shit. If he can't cope with it here then he is in deep shit when he goes to the States. Boxing at a pro level and at so called championship level is meant to be entertaining. Okay the guy didn't want to fight which on hindsight was predictable so Maloney catches hell for that. But Haye offered virtually nothing. Not even in the last round. He was in with a worm body and carried him. It was terrible to watch, has already resulted in most fans becoming deeply suspicious of Haye's attitude and ability and has put Joe Public off waisting his hard earned cash.
The whole exercise could have been performed in a gym. Crank up the lights and the heat, take off the head guards and let the other fighters watch you.
Added to that he had a 17% accuracy and landed 71 punches over twelve rounds. Thats pathetic and it puts into perspective how bad the guy in the opposite corner is.
Maloney's reaction at ringside and rather patheric attempt to seem pleased after it tells its own story. The one time promoter's dream is becoming a PR nightmare.
He calls press conferences to tell the British public he may move up to Heavyweight like its going to change our lives. Problems i that most people either say 'Who is that guy?' or 'Isn't that the guy who got his arse kicked by a 40 year old?'
Indeed I was pretty much abused from pillar to post for daring to say I was glad he was retiring on the General Board.