Is David Haye guilty of match-fixing?

[Ricky]

Several sportsbooks took bets on David Haye vs Fournier last night; there was long odds on the fight to go the distance, or Haye by decision. Which is to be expected, if this was a legitimate contest you have to imagine it would be over inside a couple of minutes.

But what transpired was, in all definitions of the term, a fixed-match. David Haye never actually threw any legitimate punches, spent the contest bobbing and weaving on the back foot then admitted to as much afterwards; that he wanted to show his friend some skills and could have knocked him out at any time if he so pleased.

How is this any different from any other type of matchfixing, like a snooker player throwing a frame or cricketer bowling a no-ball?

[KiwiRider]

This from Boxing24/7:

David Haye (29-4, 26 KOs) defeated his good friend Joe Fournier (9-1, 9 KOs) by an eight round unanimous decision in a strange-looking fight that looked fake. It seemed clear that the former two-division world champion Haye, 40, carried his buddy Fournier rather than blasting him out. The scores were 79-72, 80-71, and 79-72. Interestingly, Haye used the spotlight after the match to ask Tyson Fury to give him a title shot. The way that Fury has stalled out his career, it wouldn’t be surprising if he accommodates Haye.

[gregregegg]

Not a pro fight which makes it interesting. i would of thought when it got changed to an exibition sports books would of voided bets. but you gotta do that befor the fight in my opinion

Betting on exhibitions makes no sense because in an exhibition athletes are allowed to do what they want really i would of though, its not fighting, its not acting, but its somewhere inbetween. If Haye or any of Hays close mates have lumped on haye by points then it will be interesting..

But as for the general public, everyone betting on this knew (or should of known) what they were betting on, not boxing ability and IF haye Could knock him, but instead they were betting on weather or not Haye would choose to KO his mate, or if they were going to dance around and mug the public off.

[maverick23]

Haye did similar when he fought Ismail Abdoul. Just jabbed the whole fight and barely threw a right hand.

If questioned he could easily say he wanted to get some rounds in.

It’s exactly what a lot of people expected.

[Ricky]

Not a pro fight which makes it interesting. i would of thought when it got changed to an exibition sports books would of voided bets. but you gotta do that befor the fight in my opinion

Betting on exhibitions makes no sense because in an exhibition athletes are allowed to do what they want really i would of though, its not fighting, its not acting, but its somewhere inbetween. If Haye or any of Hays close mates have lumped on haye by points then it will be interesting..

But as for the general public, everyone betting on this knew (or should of known) what they were betting on, not boxing ability and IF haye Could knock him, but instead they were betting on weather or not Haye would choose to KO his mate, or if they were going to dance around and mug the public off.

Indeed, why is that classing something as an exhibition it suddenly becomes ok to fix the result? There must have been people in the know that would have bet Go the Distance in the knowledge these 2 are friends and Haye had no intention of stopping him. The Cricket players that were found to be spot-fixing was huge news in the UK and dominated headlines for days. How's this any different?

For anyone interested I've written to the UK Gambling Commission about David Haye and will keep you posted.

[adislav123]

you can be sure haye himself was putting every $ he could on himself by points decision.

he was in zero danger and he alone decided to go the full rounds. he even admitted it!!!

should be definitely investigated.

if that isn't enough probable cause for match fixing i don't know what is.

this shotshow may come back around on those 2 idiots and bite them in their cocky ass behinds!

rightfully so.

[gregregegg]

Not a pro fight which makes it interesting. i would of thought when it got changed to an exibition sports books would of voided bets. but you gotta do that befor the fight in my opinion

Betting on exhibitions makes no sense because in an exhibition athletes are allowed to do what they want really i would of though, its not fighting, its not acting, but its somewhere inbetween. If Haye or any of Hays close mates have lumped on haye by points then it will be interesting..

But as for the general public, everyone betting on this knew (or should of known) what they were betting on, not boxing ability and IF haye Could knock him, but instead they were betting on weather or not Haye would choose to KO his mate, or if they were going to dance around and mug the public off.

Indeed, why is that classing something as an exhibition it suddenly becomes ok to fix the result? There must have been people in the know that would have bet Go the Distance in the knowledge these 2 are friends and Haye had no intention of stopping him. The Cricket players that were found to be spot-fixing was huge news in the UK and dominated headlines for days. How's this any different?

For anyone interested I've written to the UK Gambling Commission about David Haye and will keep you posted.

for me an exhibition is not a competition. as such the fighters jobs are to entertain rather than to win. as such you can always justify what you do whether its carry rounds or KO someone, Its not match fixing cause its not a real match, its WWE.... To be Clear though, you absolutly should not be able to bet on exhibitions.

[Boxerbeetle]

Don’t bookies take bets on Wrestlemania as well, despite everyone knowing the outcome is pre-determined? Very strange imo.

[Ricky]

Don’t bookies take bets on Wrestlemania as well, despite everyone knowing the outcome is pre-determined? Very strange imo.

Well that's a good point, you can also bet on Eastenders and who killed Phil Mitchell. I guess it only works with some kind of regulation that the betting markets can be confident its kept under wraps. I also think that bettors know they're betting on a scripted outcome; but to bet on something that's presented to you as a sporting contest only to find out after the event it wasn't a legitimate contest feels unfair to say the least.

[Black Sam Bellamy]

Is there nothing Haye wouldn't do for a pay day ? Cannot be skint. Credibility all but gone now.

[maverick23]

Don’t bookies take bets on Wrestlemania as well, despite everyone knowing the outcome is pre-determined? Very strange imo.

Well that's a good point, you can also bet on Eastenders and who killed Phil Mitchell. I guess it only works with some kind of regulation that the betting markets can be confident its kept under wraps. I also think that bettors know they're betting on a scripted outcome; but to bet on something that's presented to you as a sporting contest only to find out after the event it wasn't a legitimate contest feels unfair to say the least.

It wasn’t a legitimate contest though was it? I thought it was an exhibition?

[Wee Tommy]

Not a pro fight which makes it interesting. i would of thought when it got changed to an exibition sports books would of voided bets. but you gotta do that befor the fight in my opinion

Betting on exhibitions makes no sense because in an exhibition athletes are allowed to do what they want really i would of though, its not fighting, its not acting, but its somewhere inbetween. If Haye or any of Hays close mates have lumped on haye by points then it will be interesting..

But as for the general public, everyone betting on this knew (or should of known) what they were betting on, not boxing ability and IF haye Could knock him, but instead they were betting on weather or not Haye would choose to KO his mate, or if they were going to dance around and mug the public off.

Indeed, why is that classing something as an exhibition it suddenly becomes ok to fix the result? There must have been people in the know that would have bet Go the Distance in the knowledge these 2 are friends and Haye had no intention of stopping him. The Cricket players that were found to be spot-fixing was huge news in the UK and dominated headlines for days. How's this any different?

For anyone interested I've written to the UK Gambling Commission about David Haye and will keep you posted.

Did you bet on Haye by KO Rick?

[Ricky]

Don’t bookies take bets on Wrestlemania as well, despite everyone knowing the outcome is pre-determined? Very strange imo.

Well that's a good point, you can also bet on Eastenders and who killed Phil Mitchell. I guess it only works with some kind of regulation that the betting markets can be confident its kept under wraps. I also think that bettors know they're betting on a scripted outcome; but to bet on something that's presented to you as a sporting contest only to find out after the event it wasn't a legitimate contest feels unfair to say the least.

It wasn’t a legitimate contest though was it? I thought it was an exhibition?

It was but i think there was some confusion as to its status; Wikipedia stated yesterday that it was moved to a sanctioned bout after DeLaHoya fight got pulled, but obviously that wasn't the case.

Nevertheless ot wasn't at any point billed or sold as being a friendly mess about, both guys said they intended to win by KO and the betting market wouldn't have it such long odds to go the distance if it was known that's what they intended to do.

[Ricky]

Not a pro fight which makes it interesting. i would of thought when it got changed to an exibition sports books would of voided bets. but you gotta do that befor the fight in my opinion

Betting on exhibitions makes no sense because in an exhibition athletes are allowed to do what they want really i would of though, its not fighting, its not acting, but its somewhere inbetween. If Haye or any of Hays close mates have lumped on haye by points then it will be interesting..

But as for the general public, everyone betting on this knew (or should of known) what they were betting on, not boxing ability and IF haye Could knock him, but instead they were betting on weather or not Haye would choose to KO his mate, or if they were going to dance around and mug the public off.

Indeed, why is that classing something as an exhibition it suddenly becomes ok to fix the result? There must have been people in the know that would have bet Go the Distance in the knowledge these 2 are friends and Haye had no intention of stopping him. The Cricket players that were found to be spot-fixing was huge news in the UK and dominated headlines for days. How's this any different?

For anyone interested I've written to the UK Gambling Commission about David Haye and will keep you posted.

Did you bet on Haye by KO Rick?

I did the same bet on 3 of the 4 fights; Under 3 rounds. I bet Jono Carroll to win aswell. So I was 4 wins out of 5 fights last night. But the Haye one pissed me off to the point that its about the principle. Silva/Ortiz and Belfort/Holyfield were 'exhibitions' too but they were actually contested fairly.

[Wee Tommy]

Indeed, why is that classing something as an exhibition it suddenly becomes ok to fix the result? There must have been people in the know that would have bet Go the Distance in the knowledge these 2 are friends and Haye had no intention of stopping him. The Cricket players that were found to be spot-fixing was huge news in the UK and dominated headlines for days. How's this any different?

For anyone interested I've written to the UK Gambling Commission about David Haye and will keep you posted.

Did you bet on Haye by KO Rick?

I did the same bet on 3 of the 4 fights; Under 3 rounds. I bet Jono Carroll to win aswell. So I was 4 wins out of 5 fights last night. But the Haye one pissed me off to the point that its about the principle. Silva/Ortiz and Belfort/Holyfield were 'exhibitions' too but they were actually contested fairly.

Mad bet that mate. Was never going to be a KO. I agree with your thoughts on the match itself however.

[Foggy]

You don’t have to KO someone to win a boxing match, I don’t think Haye has done anything wrong

[margaret thatcher]

vs totally overmatched opponents, all fighters might as well bet high on the fight doing the over/winning on points once in a while, since they can obviously control that themselves to a big degree if they want

[margaret thatcher]

You don’t have to KO someone to win a boxing match, I don’t think Haye has done anything wrong

simply winning on points obviously isnt, but id be shocked if him and his good pal joe hadnt worked this out ahead of time tbh. im sure theyd discussed it before the fight was even signed, seems pretty obvious theyd only make this fight if theyd talked it through, no real 'natural' reason for the two of them to fight each other

[coneye]

vs totally overmatched opponents, all fighters might as well bet high on the fight doing the over/winning on points once in a while, since they can obviously control that themselves to a big degree if they want

Lets be honest anyone who would even watch it never mind bet on it is silly PROVIDED they know boxing ,, but theres a lot out there who don't know boxing and these poor buggers have been took the piss out of ,, and who's to blame the AUTHOROTIES IN CHARGE ,,, because if they don't know its a piss take they need to get out of the sport QUICK

[ct1976]

I always thought the Harrison fight was extremely suspect so wouldn't put anything past Haye in that regard.

[margaret thatcher]

lets say we know for sure, in an official fight, a guy carried his opponent on purpose to win on points

is that okay? and is it still okay if he beat on the over/himself on points?

[TheGman]

Wouldn't be the first time he has carried someone for betting purposes would it?

[peter barlow]

Well many of us said it was likely to be fixed. Whether they actually bet on it is another matter. It may have been more "let's get a payday".

Some bookies weren't doing odds on this or the other fights, only Jono Carroll's fight.

[cormack]

Is there nothing Haye wouldn't do for a pay day ? Cannot be skint. Credibility all but gone now.

did he have any credibilty anyway ..

[Foggy]

Exhibition fight….if Haye would have banged this kid out in 1, people would have been up in arms.

Do you think they would be stupid enough to bet big or just lots of small bets to accumulate?