Haskins/Munyai

lurkyshaka · Post by **lurkyshaka** » 22 Sep 2006, 12:39

I see that Lee Haskins is set to challenge the SouthAfrican Tshifhiwa Munyai for the commonwealth bantam title in a couple weeks time.
Munyai is the same guy that gave Martin Power a good hiding a few months back and im really hoping he does the same to Haskins who i think is a pr*ck. I can't stand the Hamed wannabes and that is exactly what Haskins is. Come on Munyai!!

THEBUTCH · Post by **THEBUTCH** » 22 Sep 2006, 12:46

The undercard contest involving Junior McDonald V Tommy Eastwood for the Southern Area Cruiserweight title looks interesting.

Eastwood's proven 10 round experience might prove telling against the inexperienced McDonald.

Rocky Balboa · Post by **Rocky Balboa** » 22 Sep 2006, 12:54

I think it's a tough fight for Haskins. Tshifhiwa Munyai is no bum, that's for sure. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure he beat Martin Power recently?

If Munyai were to win, I would not be surprised. One last thing, how on God's earth does Tshifhiwa make 8st? He's 6ft for crying out loud.

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 22 Sep 2006, 12:54

couldn't believe Haskins has been put in this fight. I actually thought I'd forgotten Haskins' name & got it mixed up with someone else's, given the TOUGH choice of opponent and the fact that it's at a higher weight for him.

all we need now is daws v olusegun & I'll believe anything's possible.

Jamie Sanigar · Post by **Jamie Sanigar** » 22 Sep 2006, 14:01

Lurkyshaka, I think its disrespectful if you are a boxing fan to write abuse about boxers when you clearly have never met them or know much about them. So his style is similar to Hamed's is that a reason to call him a pr*ck?! Yes he can be flash, cocky inside the ring but thats showmanship outside the ring he is a quiet unassuming guy who is well liked, he is a great father to his 2 kids whom he adores. He's unbeaten in 15 fights already won a Commonwealth title and has the bottle to take on Munyai going up in weight for one reason to earn RESPECT from fans and critics a like.

I read a lot of people moan on these forums about british fighters especially taking the easy route and avoiding dangerous fighters. Here we have a young talented british fighter who is not frightened to take dangerous fights and he is getting slated!?!? Hopefully most of the fans on this forum will be backing our man to pull off the win which would surely go a long way for Lee getting the respect he deserves.

For the record Munyai boxes at 8st 6lbs not 8st.

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 22 Sep 2006, 14:17

Jamie Sanigar wrote:Lurkyshaka, I think its disrespectful if you are a boxing fan to write abuse about boxers when you clearly have never met them or know much about them. So his style is similar to Hamed's is that a reason to call him a pr*ck?! Yes he can be flash, cocky inside the ring but thats showmanship outside the ring he is a quiet unassuming guy who is well liked, he is a great father to his 2 kids whom he adores. He's unbeaten in 15 fights already won a Commonwealth title and has the bottle to take on Munyai going up in weight for one reason to earn RESPECT from fans and critics a like.

I read a lot of people moan on these forums about british fighters especially taking the easy route and avoiding dangerous fighters. Here we have a young talented british fighter who is not frightened to take dangerous fights and he is getting slated!?!? Hopefully most of the fans on this forum will be backing our man to pull off the win which would surely go a long way for Lee getting the respect he deserves.

For the record Munyai boxes at 8st 6lbs not 8st.

Haskins must have a lot of confidence to take on Munyai. Credit to him for walking the walk, above his own weight class. This is a serious fight he has on his hands.

lurkyshaka · Post by **lurkyshaka** » 22 Sep 2006, 16:12

Jamie Sanigar wrote:Lurkyshaka, I think its disrespectful if you are a boxing fan to write abuse about boxers when you clearly have never met them or know much about them. So his style is similar to Hamed's is that a reason to call him a pr*ck?! Yes he can be flash, cocky inside the ring but thats showmanship outside the ring he is a quiet unassuming guy who is well liked, he is a great father to his 2 kids whom he adores. He's unbeaten in 15 fights already won a Commonwealth title and has the bottle to take on Munyai going up in weight for one reason to earn RESPECT from fans and critics a like.

I read a lot of people moan on these forums about british fighters especially taking the easy route and avoiding dangerous fighters. Here we have a young talented british fighter who is not frightened to take dangerous fights and he is getting slated!?!? Hopefully most of the fans on this forum will be backing our man to pull off the win which would surely go a long way for Lee getting the respect he deserves.

For the record Munyai boxes at 8st 6lbs not 8st.

Oh and you haven't got an agenda much....lol

Ive seen Haskins interviewed several times and he comes across as arrogance personified. Im sorry i don't like the guy and will be rooting for Munyai to knock him out. And im not the only Brit who is of this thinking, many other fellas i speak to find Haskins irritating and want to see him beat. Its sad that Brits want to see a Brit get beat but Haskins attitude leaves alot to be desired. He might be a true gent away from the ring but he doesn't come across well, and his whole ring persona is a pale imitation of Hamed, its just not original. Im not slating Haskins for what he's achieved or is attempting to achieve in the ring, im being critical and rightly so of his poor attempt at being another Naz.

And for the record, Haskins is nowhere near as good as he'd like to think he is and has bitten off more than he can chew with this guy. He beats Munyai and i'll give him props from a fistic perspective, but until he loses the whole Hamed copycat routine i'll certainly continue to root for him to get beat.

Jamie Sanigar · Post by **Jamie Sanigar** » 22 Sep 2006, 18:26

As regards having an agenda, I not trying to raise Haskins profile with some bullsh*it press release, just felt compelled to reply to your message as I found it a bit below the belt, pety and abusive but then i guess its pretty easy behind a keyboard!

Well lets hope Lee can prove you wrong. Its a shame he has come accross like that in your opinion but I can assure you if you knew him you would probably thinkmore highly of him. He's not the first brit boxer to come in for stick like you are giving, I can remember people slagging of Calzaghe for his ring interview persona but he proved his doubters wrong so i hope Lee can do the same.

And by the way I'm not trying to compare Calzaghe and Haskins in the ring, before you jump on that bandwagon. At no stage does Lee claim to idolise or box like Naz its the style he is comfortable with and it has worked for him so far.

states · Post by **states** » 22 Sep 2006, 19:38

Jamie, could I just how this fight came about? Lee seemed comfortable at flyweight, as far as I know, and whilst I doubt anyone had heard about Munyai prior to the Power fight (and, if I remember rightly, most people were shocked that Munyai was getting the shot), he looks one hell of a dangerous opponent right now for someone stepping up in weight.

Haskins deserves a big pat on the back for taking this fight: It's not exactly risk with no reward, not with the Commonwealth Bantamweight title on the line, but it certainly looks like a lot of risk for not a huge amount of reward.

tea · Post by **tea** » 22 Sep 2006, 20:30

Could and should have fought Robinson for the british/commonwealth flyweight title....will pay for moving up!

Jamie Sanigar · Post by **Jamie Sanigar** » 23 Sep 2006, 05:47

Lee was finding it difficult to make Flyweight and a move up to bantam was always on the cards. He is still young and over the past year has grown into a Bantam now. He found it hard to make the weight against Mbityi and I feel that reflected in his performance. Its like he had two fights on his hands making the weight and then the fight itself. He will be much stronger at bantam.

The Robinson fight was made for July but SKY did not have an available date and then the season ended.

Lee had to move up and its unsure what Martin Power is doing at present plus we did not want to wait around until xmas for purse bids, etc. Lee said he wanted to box Munyai, he feels he came in for a lot of stick in his last performance against Mbityi and felt beating Munyai would earn him a lot of credibility. At the end of the day Lee wants to become a world champion well you have to beat the likes of Munyai to get there. Its a good 50/50 pick em fight against 2 young unbeaten fighters something that does not happen enough in boxing these days. We are confident Lee's extra punching power that Martin Power did not have to deter Munyai maybe the difference but we will have to wait and see.

lurkyshaka · Post by **lurkyshaka** » 23 Sep 2006, 07:27

Jamie Sanigar wrote:As regards having an agenda, I not trying to raise Haskins profile with some bullsh*it press release, just felt compelled to reply to your message as I found it a bit below the belt, pety and abusive but then i guess its pretty easy behind a keyboard!

Well lets hope Lee can prove you wrong. Its a shame he has come accross like that in your opinion but I can assure you if you knew him you would probably thinkmore highly of him. He's not the first brit boxer to come in for stick like you are giving, I can remember people slagging of Calzaghe for his ring interview persona but he proved his doubters wrong so i hope Lee can do the same.

And by the way I'm not trying to compare Calzaghe and Haskins in the ring, before you jump on that bandwagon. At no stage does Lee claim to idolise or box like Naz its the style he is comfortable with and it has worked for him so far.

Why is it easy behind a keyboard? Do you really think i would change my views face to face? Why would i do that? I have the view that Haskins is a copycat imitation and not that good and i'll hold that view until he proves me wrong whether im at the end of a keyboard or sitting in the same room as whoever. I really aren't bothered, its my opinion and i'll stick to it thanks.

Maybe i would think more highly of him if i actually met him, and maybe he is a decent bloke in reality but he comes over badly im afraid. I called him a pr*ck cos thats the way he comes across. Its his attitude that needs revising, he needs the fans not me. It'd be more helpful if you passed the infomation along that his attitude is not endearing him anybody, cos like i say im not the only one who has took a dislike to him. Basically any person i have spoken to in the boxing circles about Haskins is of the same opinion, thats he's a weak copy of Hamed and a bighead who they want to see exposed. He's clearly no worldbeater so why go around giving it the big un? Hamed's attitude p*ssed many people off and indeed it was sad to see as the friends i watched him face Barrera with all wanted their countryman to get beat(though not me cos i knew that despite his personality shortcomings he was real British talent) But at least Hamed was a real quality fighter in his day. Haskins upto yet hasn't proven to be so should lose the attitude. Its him who'll look foolish when he does get exposed not me. Everyone loves to see a bighead humbled after all.

And lastly id actually have more respect for Haskins if he admitted that Hamed was a huge influence and a guy he idolised and boxed like, because that is clearly the case. For him to deny it, as he has done on one interview i seen just sounds silly. He actually had the gall to suggest he'd beat Hamed in that interview id i remember rightly....lol

Anyway peace and give Lee my best

Jamie Sanigar · Post by **Jamie Sanigar** » 23 Sep 2006, 08:56

I will pass on your comments to Lee because I think its always important for boxers to hear the fans view. I think Hamed was a one off, he was a sensational talent that was well promoted and cleverly matched but obviously had his shortcomings when it came to the real world class fighters. Many people may have loathed him but I feel the majority of people enjoyed his arrogance and attitude thats why he sold out arenas and was pay per view.

As regards Haskins claiming he could beat Hamed it was said in a jokingly way as the commentator was going on about his Hamed style. I can assure you he does not really think that!!

Anyway we could go on and on about this........... you obviously don't like him which is fair enough and since we got into the debate you have come up with a constructive arguement, I just felt your initial comments were below the belt.

Lets see how Lee gets on in 2 weeks. If he beats Munyai in a classy way maybe he will get some repsect from you or Lee may get beat and you can sit there happy that a young british fighter has been beaten by a South African.

E · Post by E » 23 Sep 2006, 10:16

Lee seems perfectly likeable to me in his interviews.

His style is flashy, but so what? It's interesting to have different styles. HE does not go out to humiliate opponents like Hamed (and that guy is and was a prick.)

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 23 Sep 2006, 10:21

I interviewed Lee once and can vouch he's very quetly spoken, humble and a good guy. Not at all like his ring persona. After all, it's all about hype isn't it - no bad thing to get yourself noticed.

But it does come across as odd when he denies any Hamed influence

steve689 · Post by **steve689** » 23 Sep 2006, 12:11

You are right Mighty Warrior, sad but true nice guys come last in Boxing! Read Witter's interview in BN, nobody noticed him until he started baiting Hatton and trash talking. Carl Froch is said to be like this as well.

E · Post by E » 23 Sep 2006, 12:25

steve689 wrote:You are right Mighty Warrior, sad but true nice guys come last in Boxing! Read Witter's interview in BN, nobody noticed him until he started baiting Hatton and trash talking. Carl Froch is said to be like this as well.

Well you don't necessarily need to be arrogant, but you need some kind of advantage to make people talk...at least some charisma.

Eubank, had his eccentricity, Nigel Benn explosive power, Hatton, I guess his manchester connection and exciting style, HAmed unique style and an arrogant twat.....

Duke Mckenzie (supposed 3 weight champ) never had much of a following though...

tea · Post by **tea** » 23 Sep 2006, 12:31

Jamie Sanigar wrote:Lee was finding it difficult to make Flyweight and a move up to bantam was always on the cards. He is still young and over the past year has grown into a Bantam now. He found it hard to make the weight against Mbityi and I feel that reflected in his performance. Its like he had two fights on his hands making the weight and then the fight itself. He will be much stronger at bantam.

The Robinson fight was made for July but SKY did not have an available date and then the season ended.

Lee had to move up and its unsure what Martin Power is doing at present plus we did not want to wait around until xmas for purse bids, etc. Lee said he wanted to box Munyai, he feels he came in for a lot of stick in his last performance against Mbityi and felt beating Munyai would earn him a lot of credibility. At the end of the day Lee wants to become a world champion well you have to beat the likes of Munyai to get there. Its a good 50/50 pick em fight against 2 young unbeaten fighters something that does not happen enough in boxing these days. We are confident Lee's extra punching power that Martin Power did not have to deter Munyai maybe the difference but we will have to wait and see.

Tha Robinson fight went out for pudse bids last month and there was plenty of interest from promoters....Haskins was pulled out of the bids....like you said"its a shame these great british fights dont happen"...well they wont if one of the guys is pulled out of the bids...

Jamie Sanigar · Post by **Jamie Sanigar** » 23 Sep 2006, 13:21

I've already said Lee has moved up to Bantam because he was struggling to make Flyweight, Robinson certainly had nothing to do with it. To be honest Lee's stablemate Moses Kinyua beat Robinson fair and square but never got the decision. I don't think Lee can be accused of ducking Robinson when he is clearly boxing a much more dangerous opponent!

Lenny · Post by **Lenny** » 25 Sep 2006, 08:04

Fair play to Haskins for taking this fight and am pleased for Munyai as I thought he'd be avoided like the plague after the beating he gave Power. Tough fight for Lee and i'd make him the underdog in this one, he will have the advantage over Power and know what he is coming up against but whether he'll be able to do anything about it is another matter.

As you said Jamie, if Haskins has plans on becoming world champ it's good to see him going after these sorts of fights to make it happen.

THEBUTCH · Post by **THEBUTCH** » 25 Sep 2006, 09:32

I'd much rather watch one of our young guns in an ambitious bid than watch them take on the usual overmatched fodder that often happens.

Before Sportsnetwork left Sky for ITV, the standard of matchmaking got very low and I think boxing lost a fair amount of interest because of that.

I'm not saying we want to see our young stars be thrown to the wolves, but Haskins has gained some valuable experience in the last 2 years so he is not going in totally unprepared.

Old bones Ian · Post by **Old bones Ian** » 25 Sep 2006, 17:11

Hard fight this for Lee, in his last fight against Mbityi, after he couldn't blast him out Lee seemed to lose focus and a bit of confidence also i seem to recall a KD but it wasn't counted by the ref, but he came through it and showed that he wanted to get back to the drawing board and work on his mistakes. Mbityi has since gone on to defeat Simon Ramoni so thats shows he was no mug .

I think the step up in wieght will suit Haskins as he seemed a bit drained making the weight for fly, he's a growing lad.
Tshifhiwa Munyai will be a hard first fight at the new weight though, so no easy step up, Munyai is very tall for the wieght and uses the ring well, he broke Martin Power down as the fight went on, he certainly seemed more seasoned than his record suggests.

I think combination punching is the Key for Haskins, not to try and rely on one punch, if he trys to go for power on single shots then Munyai will use his height and good defensive skills to cover up, Haskins has to work this guy out, make Munyai do some of the leading and then step in with bursts of 2-3 punches. If he can do that i see Lee coming home on points.

As for Lee's style, its not everyones cup of tea, when i've watched him on TV with some of my mates, half of them like him the other half want to see him get KO'd.
Personally i like the style, but with this style sometimes you have to have a plan B as well.

lurkyshaka · Post by **lurkyshaka** » 06 Oct 2006, 16:46

So the fight starts shortly. Whats going to happen?

I think and i make no secret hope that Munyai wins. Im not a Haskins fan and i was quite impressed with the way that Munyai dealt with Power.
Brave move by Haskins and should he win i'll give him some credit but i think the reach and height of Munyai will prove too much for the Hamed impersonator and he either wins a clear decison or stops a tiring Haskins late.

Pong · Post by **Pong** » 06 Oct 2006, 17:15

lurkyshaka wrote:So the fight starts shortly. Whats going to happen?

I think and i make no secret hope that Munyai wins. Im not a Haskins fan and i was quite impressed with the way that Munyai dealt with Power.
Brave move by Haskins and should he win i'll give him some credit but i think the reach and height of Munyai will prove too much for the Hamed impersonator and he either wins a clear decison or stops a tiring Haskins late.

Can you do a R-B-R?

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 06 Oct 2006, 17:41

Haskins was stopped at the end of the 6th.

Munyai too big and too good.