David Haye

[TopGun]

Spud, great inisght and thank you for your posts. Us boxing fans crave some of these stories.

My thoughts, Haye was an exceptional fighter when he was 100%. But when was he 100%? Mormeck / Maccarinelli?


His head movement, heavy hands made him a true athlete but he kind of always lacked something that made him a Hall of famer didn't he?

I imagine all of his best performances were in sparring and not in his actual fights.

He has to go down a British all time great. He was great to watch.

[olij999]

Apart from Haye, how many British fighters have challenged for a world title against the world number 1 abroad in the champion's back yard and come off the floor to win by stoppage ? Only John H. Stracey comes to mind. It's a pretty massive achievement, and is a major part of how I'd rate his career. The Bellew fights are of no more relevance to Haye's reputation than the Hector Camacho fight was to Sugar Ray Leonard's.

[Coco]

Apart from Haye, how many British fighters have challenged for a world title against the world number 1 abroad in the champion's back yard and come off the floor to win by stoppage ? Only John H. Stracey comes to mind. It's a pretty massive achievement, and is a major part of how I'd rate his career. The Bellew fights are of no more relevance to Haye's reputation than the Hector Camacho fight was to Sugar Ray Leonard's.

Yeah what Haye did v Mormack was top class.

Difficult to judge as a heavy, did a much better job on Chisora than anyone, but in the end was just too small, and of course his body fell to bits with injury.

[Controversial]

I liked Haye, he done what a lot of fighters fail to do and made himself financially setup for life.

Has he? How do you know that? I thought he was skint as fukk prior to his ‘comeback’.

I don't believe he was skint, that was newspaper talk. No one skint drives around in cars worth more than most peoples houses.

[orbtastic]

Apart from Haye, how many British fighters have challenged for a world title against the world number 1 abroad in the champion's back yard and come off the floor to win by stoppage ? Only John H. Stracey comes to mind. It's a pretty massive achievement, and is a major part of how I'd rate his career. The Bellew fights are of no more relevance to Haye's reputation than the Hector Camacho fight was to Sugar Ray Leonard's.

Yeah what Haye did v Mormack was top class.

Difficult to judge as a heavy, did a much better job on Chisora than anyone, but in the end was just too small, and of course his body fell to bits with injury.

Stracey, honeyghan and fitzsimmons.

I was at that mormeck fight. Pretty subdued evening in what was essentially a leisure centre. At the Macca and Ruiz fights too. I saw the chisora fight at the cinema, it was a good experience. I’d do it again if they did it more often.

I was at the Harrison farce too and had tickets for the abortive klit fight but went for the refund instead and had a weekend in Brussels instead. I didn’t want to watch chagaev

[olij999]

Apart from Haye, how many British fighters have challenged for a world title against the world number 1 abroad in the champion's back yard and come off the floor to win by stoppage ? Only John H. Stracey comes to mind. It's a pretty massive achievement, and is a major part of how I'd rate his career. The Bellew fights are of no more relevance to Haye's reputation than the Hector Camacho fight was to Sugar Ray Leonard's.

Yeah what Haye did v Mormack was top class.

Difficult to judge as a heavy, did a much better job on Chisora than anyone, but in the end was just too small, and of course his body fell to bits with injury.

Stracey, honeyghan and fitzsimmons.

I was at that mormeck fight. Pretty subdued evening in what was essentially a leisure centre. At the Macca and Ruiz fights too. I saw the chisora fight at the cinema, it was a good experience. I’d do it again if they did it more often.

I was at the Harrison farce too and had tickets for the abortive klit fight but went for the refund instead and had a weekend in Brussels instead. I didn’t want to watch chagaev

Hello, Orb! I didn't include Honeyghan as I don't recall him being on the floor against Curry, whereas Stracey was down in the first against Napoles. And I have no idea whether Fitzsimmons was down before winning.

As for the venue, how dare you call it a "leisure centre" - it was the Palais des Sport Marcel Cerdan. Insult the venue, and you are effectively insulting Cerdan and his family. A palace, Orb, an actual palace.

[ILikeBeer]

More enjoyable to watch as a Cruiserweight than a Heavyweight.

[orbtastic]

Sorry mate I didn’t see the off the floor. Yeah I don’t think honeyghan was down but he wasn’t winning those first few rounds. Fitz was down in the sixth.

I think if you watch the mormeck fight you can see me jump up as the camera panned back. Red sweatshirt. I had to sort of mute my celebrations as I realised I was one of about ten English people there.

[olij999]

Sorry mate I didn’t see the off the floor. Yeah I don’t think honeyghan was down but he wasn’t winning those first few rounds. Fitz was down in the sixth.

I think if you watch the mormeck fight you can see me jump up as the camera panned back. Red sweatshirt. I had to sort of mute my celebrations as I realised I was one of about ten English people there.

I will have a watch to see if I can spot you. And surely the real reason you muted your celebrations was palace protocol.

PS - Lloyd was up on all cards at the time of the retirement - judges only gave Curry 1 or 2 rounds respectively. Rather like whenever I watched Jorge Paez, I gave him a two-round start for the fabulous shorts.

[Ezzard]

Fantastic fighter. Lots to like.

Only real criticism was the Wlad fight. Not the result as it was always a big ask. But the fact he didn't really roll the dice in the final few rounds.

[orbtastic]

Oh no doubt. He was getting a steady and sustained beating. There’s no way he was finishing on his feet. The way he slumps down on his stool reminds me of Lewis against vitali.

We went to some bar round the corner for drinks before hand and had a lovely steak and chips and we asked him if he was open after the fight (using a combination of French, English, mime and hand gestures). He told us in no uncertain terms that we were most definitely not welcome back later. Had to settle for the hotel bar which was basically 3 of us watching the replay on tv. The psg team were also in the hotel that evening and not being a football fan I couldn’t tell you a single player’s name but everyone else in the hotel was very excited.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Apart from Haye, how many British fighters have challenged for a world title against the world number 1 abroad in the champion's back yard and come off the floor to win by stoppage ? Only John H. Stracey comes to mind. It's a pretty massive achievement, and is a major part of how I'd rate his career. The Bellew fights are of no more relevance to Haye's reputation than the Hector Camacho fight was to Sugar Ray Leonard's.

Yeah what Haye did v Mormack was top class.

Difficult to judge as a heavy, did a much better job on Chisora than anyone, but in the end was just too small, and of course his body fell to bits with injury.

Stracey, honeyghan and fitzsimmons.

I was at that mormeck fight. Pretty subdued evening in what was essentially a leisure centre. At the Macca and Ruiz fights too. I saw the chisora fight at the cinema, it was a good experience. I’d do it again if they did it more often.

I was at the Harrison farce too and had tickets for the abortive klit fight but went for the refund instead and had a weekend in Brussels instead. I didn’t want to watch chagaev

I was at that too, proper scary crowd, loads of French Morrocan and Algerian Gangsters, Mormeck was clearly the ghetto favourite.

I remember not wanting to celebrate when Haye won, and then being relieved when all the French crowd clapped and cheered when Haye was announced the winner.

I would argue that was his best win really.

His 'fight' with Valuev, has to go down as the most boring Heavyweight title fight of all time - I invited people over to my house to watch it, and I remember apologising to everyone who came it was that bad.

There's must have been 20 punches landed the entire fight.

[orbtastic]

Yeah I remember walking in and thinking wtf have I done. I was ringside too, a couple of rows back from his wife and entourage. Someone (male) in front of me acidly asking “what’s she done with her hair”. Lol. Always stuck with me.

The crowd looked very moody. All leather jackets and scowls. Saw a fair few scars too and I thought I hope it doesn’t kick off. Fair play they were sporting when he won. I did not expect that.

Saw that little Iranian dude, mayahar monshipour. Tiny but built like a tank. Also literally bumped into mbaye when I went for a piss and wished him good luck. They also introduced some celebs. Can’t say I recognised any of them. One of them was a dead ringer for Jean Reno. Claude boutier there too.

[Lenny Cravats]

Yeah what Haye did v Mormack was top class.

Difficult to judge as a heavy, did a much better job on Chisora than anyone, but in the end was just too small, and of course his body fell to bits with injury.

Stracey, honeyghan and fitzsimmons.

I was at that mormeck fight. Pretty subdued evening in what was essentially a leisure centre. At the Macca and Ruiz fights too. I saw the chisora fight at the cinema, it was a good experience. I’d do it again if they did it more often.

I was at the Harrison farce too and had tickets for the abortive klit fight but went for the refund instead and had a weekend in Brussels instead. I didn’t want to watch chagaev

I was at that too, proper scary crowd, loads of French Morrocan and Algerian Gangsters, Mormeck was clearly the ghetto favourite.

I remember not wanting to celebrate when Haye won, and then being relieved when all the French crowd clapped and cheered when Haye was announced the winner.

I would argue that was his best win really.

His 'fight' with Valuev, has to go down as the most boring Heavyweight title fight of all time - I invited people over to my house to watch it, and I remember apologising to everyone who came it was that bad.

There's must have been 20 punches landed the entire fight.

I'd rate it slightly above Fury Klitschko in terms of entertainment.
Haye did land one reasonable punch on the big lads dome in the last round.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Yeah I remember walking in and thinking wtf have I done. I was ringside too, a couple of rows back from his wife and entourage. Someone (male) in front of me acidly asking “what’s she done with her hair”. Lol. Always stuck with me.

The crowd looked very moody. All leather jackets and scowls. Saw a fair few scars too and I thought I hope it doesn’t kick off. Fair play they were sporting when he won. I did not expect that.

Saw that little Iranian dude, mayahar monshipour. Tiny but built like a tank. Also literally bumped into mbaye when I went for a piss and wished him good luck. They also introduced some celebs. Can’t say I recognised any of them. One of them was a dead ringer for Jean Reno. Claude boutier there too.

Yeah, I remember the last time I saw that many mars bars was at a tuck shop.

As Danny Dyer would no doubt have said 'Pwopper Nawwty Crowwd.'

[Spud]

David employed a camerman for at least 3 years.

I would love to see the documentary/film.’I am convinced it would be a best seller and give fans a fantastic insight to boxing behind the scenes as well a great insight into David as a person.

I am convinced if David had won against Bellew we would have seen the documentary

[big lennox]

David employed a camerman for at least 3 years.

I would love to see the documentary/film.’I am convinced it would be a best seller and give fans a fantastic insight to boxing behind the scenes as well a great insight into David as a person.

I am convinced if David had won against Bellew we would have seen the documentary

That's interesting. I remember Haye saying in an interview that he had made a documentary that showed all the injuries he had had behind the scenes. I wondered why it never came out.

Interestingly, after the second Bellew - Haye fight, my brother in law (who I have now drawn into boxing) watched the Haye - Macrinelli fight immediately afterwards. My brother in law, who hadn't seen that fight before said: " Good God, Haye is about 5 times faster here".

He concluded by saying that all the Bellew - Haye fights showed us was that Bellew could beat a lame Haye.

[Spud]

Perhaps TV executives did not want to part with the cash to show it.

Seriously its a real shame the documentary was not shown.

[maverick23]

Yeah I remember walking in and thinking wtf have I done. I was ringside too, a couple of rows back from his wife and entourage. Someone (male) in front of me acidly asking “what’s she done with her hair”. Lol. Always stuck with me.

The crowd looked very moody. All leather jackets and scowls. Saw a fair few scars too and I thought I hope it doesn’t kick off. Fair play they were sporting when he won. I did not expect that.

Saw that little Iranian dude, mayahar monshipour. Tiny but built like a tank. Also literally bumped into mbaye when I went for a piss and wished him good luck. They also introduced some celebs. Can’t say I recognised any of them. One of them was a dead ringer for Jean Reno. Claude boutier there too.

Yeah, I remember the last time I saw that many mars bars was at a tuck shop.

As Danny Dyer would no doubt have said 'Pwopper Nawwty Crowwd.'

I was at the Mormeck fight too. One of my favourite overseas trips to watch a Brit as it still felt to me that Haye was under the radar with most of his fights with Maloney being in leisure centres.

I randomly met Haye in a bar in Birmingham just before his comeback easy wins pre Bellew. He came across a bit of a dick to be honest until me and my mate told him we’d seen him live against Mormeck, Klitschhko, Chisora etc. He then became more relaxed and friendly. He may have just been annoyed as someone 5 minutes before walked past him and said ‘You’re Lennox Lewis aren’t you?’

[orbtastic]

Like Spud says, his mood was very up and down. I saw him twice at shows and once he seemed almost happy to be recognised and then it got a bit mental and he moved on. Another time he was right in front of me and literally had his head down in his blackberry all evening and looked proper cheesed off. Maybe it was the start of his marital woes, maybe he just had a bad day. A couple of people came over and they got shooed off. It was the Enzo/Frenkel fight and it was a nasty KO, especially from the angle we were at. You could see his legs had gone and you saw all the sweat and spit fly off and his chin swivel horribly. I think he left after that, he looked a bit sickened.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Yeah I remember walking in and thinking wtf have I done. I was ringside too, a couple of rows back from his wife and entourage. Someone (male) in front of me acidly asking “what’s she done with her hair”. Lol. Always stuck with me.

The crowd looked very moody. All leather jackets and scowls. Saw a fair few scars too and I thought I hope it doesn’t kick off. Fair play they were sporting when he won. I did not expect that.

Saw that little Iranian dude, mayahar monshipour. Tiny but built like a tank. Also literally bumped into mbaye when I went for a piss and wished him good luck. They also introduced some celebs. Can’t say I recognised any of them. One of them was a dead ringer for Jean Reno. Claude boutier there too.

Yeah, I remember the last time I saw that many mars bars was at a tuck shop.

As Danny Dyer would no doubt have said 'Pwopper Nawwty Crowwd.'

I was at the Mormeck fight too. One of my favourite overseas trips to watch a Brit as it still felt to me that Haye was under the radar with most of his fights with Maloney being in leisure centres.

I randomly met Haye in a bar in Birmingham just before his comeback easy wins pre Bellew. He came across a bit of a dick to be honest until me and my mate told him we’d seen him live against Mormeck, Klitschhko, Chisora etc. He then became more relaxed and friendly. He may have just been annoyed as someone 5 minutes before walked past him and said ‘You’re Lennox Lewis aren’t you?’

He must have been fcking fuming....they must also have been fcking stupid to think he was Lennox.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Yeah I remember walking in and thinking wtf have I done. I was ringside too, a couple of rows back from his wife and entourage. Someone (male) in front of me acidly asking “what’s she done with her hair”. Lol. Always stuck with me.

The crowd looked very moody. All leather jackets and scowls. Saw a fair few scars too and I thought I hope it doesn’t kick off. Fair play they were sporting when he won. I did not expect that.

Saw that little Iranian dude, mayahar monshipour. Tiny but built like a tank. Also literally bumped into mbaye when I went for a piss and wished him good luck. They also introduced some celebs. Can’t say I recognised any of them. One of them was a dead ringer for Jean Reno. Claude boutier there too.

Yeah, I remember the last time I saw that many mars bars was at a tuck shop.

As Danny Dyer would no doubt have said 'Pwopper Nawwty Crowwd.'

I was at the Mormeck fight too. One of my favourite overseas trips to watch a Brit as it still felt to me that Haye was under the radar with most of his fights with Maloney being in leisure centres.

I randomly met Haye in a bar in Birmingham just before his comeback easy wins pre Bellew. He came across a bit of a dick to be honest until me and my mate told him we’d seen him live against Mormeck, Klitschhko, Chisora etc. He then became more relaxed and friendly. He may have just been annoyed as someone 5 minutes before walked past him and said ‘You’re Lennox Lewis aren’t you?’

I once was ringside for a fight, covering it for an American website, maxboxing.com I think it was. When the fights were over, I saw Haye and Booth hanging about and I went over to Haye, and introduced myself. I asked Haye if he would be interested in doing and interview and he stood there and just smirked at me for ages, glacing over at Booth he chuckled, and then said, "Yeah, go on then...." like it was a favour.

I asked him for his email, and said I would drop him a line to set it up.

He then gave me a fake email address which bounced back.

I never really understood that - I mean, it's an interview, about him, giving him publicity.

[jamesmcdonnell]

David employed a camerman for at least 3 years.

I would love to see the documentary/film.’I am convinced it would be a best seller and give fans a fantastic insight to boxing behind the scenes as well a great insight into David as a person.

I am convinced if David had won against Bellew we would have seen the documentary

That's interesting. I remember Haye saying in an interview that he had made a documentary that showed all the injuries he had had behind the scenes. I wondered why it never came out.

Interestingly, after the second Bellew - Haye fight, my brother in law (who I have now drawn into boxing) watched the Haye - Macrinelli fight immediately afterwards. My brother in law, who hadn't seen that fight before said: " Good God, Haye is about 5 times faster here".

He concluded by saying that all the Bellew - Haye fights showed us was that Bellew could beat a lame Haye.

Yeah, I'm pretty certain Haye would have murdered Bellew in his prime, too quick and far too heavy handed.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Stracey, honeyghan and fitzsimmons.

I was at that mormeck fight. Pretty subdued evening in what was essentially a leisure centre. At the Macca and Ruiz fights too. I saw the chisora fight at the cinema, it was a good experience. I’d do it again if they did it more often.

I was at the Harrison farce too and had tickets for the abortive klit fight but went for the refund instead and had a weekend in Brussels instead. I didn’t want to watch chagaev

I was at that too, proper scary crowd, loads of French Morrocan and Algerian Gangsters, Mormeck was clearly the ghetto favourite.

I remember not wanting to celebrate when Haye won, and then being relieved when all the French crowd clapped and cheered when Haye was announced the winner.

I would argue that was his best win really.

His 'fight' with Valuev, has to go down as the most boring Heavyweight title fight of all time - I invited people over to my house to watch it, and I remember apologising to everyone who came it was that bad.

There's must have been 20 punches landed the entire fight.

I'd rate it slightly above Fury Klitschko in terms of entertainment.
Haye did land one reasonable punch on the big lads dome in the last round.

There's not a lot in it to be fair.

Round 10 of the first Bowe Holyfield fight had more punches landed than both fights put together.

[margaret thatcher]

chisora-fury 2 was worse than both of them

it's like the holy trinity of utterly dreafdul heavyweight fights