Hang on a second, though. Is Haye really a small heavyweight??Goz wrote:I'm really swinging towards Valuev at the moment.
Thinking of small Heavies who toppled or competed with bigger guys, Toney, Roy Jones, Spinks (Michael) all had exceptional defensive skills David doesn't appear to be very hard to hit. Tyson was fairly unique I feel and his offense was his defence and Holyfield was 'cute' and not that small anyway as time went on.
I'm thinking David might be more Herbie Hide than the list above. I know the Ruski isn't a peak Riddick Bowe or upcoming Vitali Klitschko either but the way Hide got his brain scrambled by their often glancing blows is strong in my mind here.
I really hope I'm wrong - it's possible Haye hits harder than any of the above bar Tyson which could be what gives him a chance but I just can't get over the size thing. I mean the weight difference could be like Haye at Cruiser fighting a Flyweight!!
I can see Haye going down several times but giving some moments of excitement in return before getting stopped in 6/7 rounds.
But I will be holldering for Haye come 9.45pm tomorrow, I'm just being honest!
From memory, Jones was 199lb, Spinks was just a touch over 200lb, Tyson at his peak was 210-215lb, which is about the same as Ali.
Haye, I reckon, will probably come in at 6'3'' and 230lb. I'm not sure that makes him small at all.
He's just fit.
If most heavyweights were as fit as Haye, they'd be around his weight. But they're porkers, so they're not. Of course the Klitschkos are bigger, but that's more a case of them being big heavyweights than Haye being particularly small.
Just my view.
So all of 2009 David Haye has been inactive. And he goes straight into potentially the hardest fight of his life off the back of this inactivity. Add to this the fact the previous year 2008 he only fought twice. The first fight a brief farce easy blowout against a out of his depth Enzo Maccarenelli. The 2nd fight up at heavyweight against a old but still capable Monte Barret. In the Barret fight Haye was gassing and looking a little tired then - as if inactivity was showing - since then he has done zero in a competive fight. Not good. I know Haye has probaly worked hard in the gym but 2 fights in the last 20 months can cause some ring rust.
