BoxRec

Haye is a mediocre fighter. Watching him fight abdoul he looked like a guy who didnt really wanna be in there. Do the bare minimum to win and cheat the fans by saying only 3 right hands a rounds. Ok if he slipped up against Abdoul he would of blown his chance but wasnt Hatton in the same situation against Oliveira? look at the way he treated that fight, went out and battered him. Haye is not a true fighter, he is going to end up like Audley Harrison i fear.

I think Haye has got heart, I'll give him that, you only have to see the way he ushered Thompson in for afters when he was knackered and badly hurt on the ropes.

However that contest may have made him more cautious, or maybe he is bored with that level of opponent, who knows. What is true is that if he wants to get that title shot, he will need to make a compelling case for Don King to put his fighter's title on the line and that won't be helped by having a 12 round snoozer.

O'Neil Bell has got to be even tougher and harder working than Carl Thompson. His lack of footwork seems to be his only real weakness. He does seem too much for Haye but you never know for sure.

What's more certain is that 45 minutes "work" on Friday night will have been no help whatsoever as preparation for Bell.

Kilburn wrote:O'Neil Bell has got to be even tougher and harder working than Carl Thompson. His lack of footwork seems to be his only real weakness. He does seem too much for Haye but you never know for sure.

What's more certain is that 45 minutes "work" on Friday night will have been no help whatsoever as preparation for Bell.

bell and thompson are a good comparison - they both even came from behind to KO Rothmann. Bell is definitely a notch above. However, haye is the stylistic antithesis of what he was against Thompson. He's very alert, aware, quite sound defensively and boxes well. Not exciting, not a good spectacle. But you don't want to tear it up with Bell, you have to box him. A shopworn Rothmann who can't even throw his right hand properly anymore almost pulled it off on pts - he even nearly knocked him out when he froze him with a right. Haye isnt as tough as Rothmann, but he's still a major talent. And his talent is being moved in the right way.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:I think Haye has got heart, I'll give him that, you only have to see the way he ushered Thompson in for afters when he was knackered and badly hurt on the ropes.

However that contest may have made him more cautious, or maybe he is bored with that level of opponent, who knows. What is true is that if he wants to get that title shot, he will need to make a compelling case for Don King to put his fighter's title on the line and that won't be helped by having a 12 round snoozer.

as far as i'm aware, bell is still with warrior's boxing of florida. they've got a pretty impressive stable, including glen johnson, edison miranda, dale brown and sultan ibragimov

haye does most of his training in miami, FL, interestingly.

lvlarc_uk wrote:

kerrminator wrote:Haye would politely place Bell over his knee the blister his arse, sorry guys but Haye is 1000 times better that Bell.


I'll give a sensible arguement to back it up if required but I doubt deep down anyone would give bell a chance.

Biggest name on Haye's record is an old Carl Thompson, and he got stopped. Haye has never beaten anyone of Mormeck's stature, so what makes you think he's 1000 times better than O'Bell?

Please take us through it..

I hpe you know my tongue was firmly in my cheek with that comment.

I do however believe Haye can beat Bell and the only thing I would worry about is Haye's cornermen, they need to let him do what he does best and punish opponents when he has the chance.

Haye will never be an elite boxer but he could certainly become an elite fighter.

Bell's greater experience and heart give him the edge, imo, but Haye's power will make it very interesting while it lasts.

Haye gets chinned in this one...Oneil look very strong against Mcormeck...took some massive digs and kept coming back for more
Haye just aint got the minerals for a tough fight!!!!!

Bell's not as good with the extra ten pounds when the division limit was raised. He used to be really sneaky now he's slow as fu_ck and off balance whether he's backing up or goign forward . the smaller mormeck played right into his hands in a fight bell could've been DQ'd for hitting on the back of the head. you can't beat bell inside but he can be outboxed. aq shopworn rothmann did it for 11 rds and dale brown probably deserved to beat him. indeed, brown's solid boxing gave bell fits and it was brown who dished out all the punishment on his own terms. all bell did was land body shots - all nigth admittedly - and it was this consistent body attack that got him the controversial verdict

I'm surprised that so many are backing Haye after his pathetic showing on Friday night and his previous fight against Johansen. I had suggested Haye should carry Abdoul to get the rounds in, but whats the point in going 12 rounds if you do absolutely nothing. Haye has proved he can plod about for 12 rounds thats all. And he was almost as unconvincing against Lasse.

He is in no way ready for the likes of Bell.

There's two schools of thought here, on the one hand you could say that Haye is learning to fight with more caution and patience and that is a good thing in the long run.

The other is that he has looked ordinary and beatable since abandoning his power punching style

what worries me is that Haye doesn't seem to be developing the inside fighting, defensive skills and the sustained punch output neccesary for a hard fight against a tough and committed opponent.

Enzo Macaranelli, by way of contrast, seems to have done just that in his last two fights, after an early career where he was simply twatting people until they fell over with his chin in the air.

As said earlier, a 12 round fight where you have little or no output or competition isn't really a learning fight, and the fact Haye said himself that he was going through the motions because he wanted a title shot is worrying. Haye is still a young pro early in his career, and if he wants a title shot he needs big performances against decent opponents to get a shot. At the moment Haye is still fighting in leisure centres, and it remains to be seen whether he will ever be a big enough draw to command the kind of fights he wants.

some major overreactions on here. haye wasn't pathetic, he was sparing in his output. but when the opponent is a guy with his arms and gloves round his head, who is waiting for haye to make a mistake, then surely ppl can see why haye didn't go hell for leather? haye is developing into a solid counter puncher who likes to get the measure of what the other guy is doing before responding...as abdoul didn't produce so much offensively, well he wasn't exactly demanding haye answer back with something special.

Jorge Rubio is turning him into a cautious counter puncher, no doubt encouraged even more into this style by lennox lewis who spends time with haye. if he acn balance some more aggression into this - & there's no reason to use abdoul as an example that he won't ever be able to - he has a good chance of unseating Bell one day.

haye's defense seems good, he looks solid technically, i have no probem with the performance aside from not particularly enjoying it. hopkins, lewis, countless top fighters have had nights like this and it didn't spell the end of their careers.

only concern i have is that haye probably needs to fight the johanssens and abdouls for another year at least. then step it up the following year, gun for the likes of hobson and maccarinelli & then think about world titles.

i don't like that he clearly didn't want to fight hobson. he wanted gurov, as by beating him would vault him up the rankings faster.


There does seem to be a big rush to fight Bell in particular. That's because Bell is so crude, perhaps. He can be outboxed, and with guys like Cunningham and G jones with high rankings, top fighters like Tokarev and Cora on the way up, and Mormeck and Dale Brown wanting rematches, he clearly won't be champion for much longer. Bell had little or no amatuer career. He's a learn on the job type of fighter. But he doesn't fight often. He is so for the taking it's unbelievable.

I just dont believe in Haye. Hes a big hitter & looks the part but i just dont think the boy has the toughness. Not knockin him just dont think its there. The way he lost to that Cuban at the world games has always stuck with me, Lolenga Mock making a sterner argument than he was supposed to.. Haye has a tendency to get knackered when everything isnt going his way at his pace. He doesnt have the skills like Nelson, or the ability to brawl like Thompson or Macca. Hes just a good looker/good talker/flashy get up but no actual substance much like a certain Audley...

Bell sends Hayemaker back to the UK one way ticket & his place in the pecking order confirmed.

Not seen Bell fight but as i share heritage with him coming from Jamaica i'd say he's one tough bastard.

Apparantley Mormeck had Bell on the brink of defeat but Bell showed immense guts to turn it around and knockout the Frenchman. An excellent result that is far beyond anything David has achieved.
Haye does carry power but i suspect, as against Carl Thompson, he will start well then fade when he realises that he can't knock Bell out with one big right.
My advice to Pretty Boy Dave is this: Learn to throw the right hand within a combination. There is more chance of it landing by surprise.
This is basic stuff and you aren't learning anything by 'carrying' Ismael Abdoul for twelve rounds.

Bell will leave Haye ironed out within seven rounds.

The most worrying thing about Haye's last fight,was when the sky cameras got in close to his corner bewtween rounds 9-10(i think)and his trainer was saying to Haye he had to be careful he did'nt punch himself out!!!!
Now,this would be understandable if Haye was invloved in a war with loads of punches being thrown,but this was far from the case.
Surely if his trainer is coming out with these sort of things,Haye's stamina is very questionable?

Bell is too tough for David in my opinion.
Would love to see Haye win(if the fight ever happens)but I think Bell stops him,quite convincingly too.