Haye accepts Bellew's challenge

[orbtastic]

Surely it's just about the money, as any sensible person would be.

I didn't hear any of his long post-fight interview as the TV was muted in the pub but I caught him on TV the day Ali died and he talked (at length as he always does...) and one of the things he said was he'd fight any cruiserweight or small heavyweight so naturally Haye's name popped up.

He's not daft, he'll get far more fighting Haye than he would against any cruiserweight, belts or not.

[funso banjo baby]

I don't have a problem with a bellew v haye matchup. its part of the romance of boxing when a cruiser king moves up to challenge the heavies.

Hayes fight with briggs is the most embarrassing fight atm

[olij999]

Surely it's just about the money, as any sensible person would be.

I didn't hear any of his long post-fight interview as the TV was muted in the pub but I caught him on TV the day Ali died and he talked (at length as he always does...) and one of the things he said was he'd fight any cruiserweight or small heavyweight so naturally Haye's name popped up.

He's not daft, he'll get far more fighting Haye than he would against any cruiserweight, belts or not.

All good points, and you're probably right on all of them. Playing devil's advocate, could some other things apart from the money may make Bellew want this fight? One is if Haye gets any sort of version of the world heavyweight title first, although this fight realistically would probably happen before. Another is if he can get Haye to drain down a bit to some sort of daft artificial weight at the low end of heavyweight rather than come in at whatever Haye wants. The third is that Haye is the same guy who got wobbled by Lolenga Mock, a super-middleweight and Bellew may feel that no-one has really tried to put it on Haye since his move up to heavyweight.

As I say, that is just for the sake of being devil's advocate, and I still think Haye would win in a couple of rounds.

[gilgamesh]

So I suppose this'll be early next year after Haye vs Briggs?

[crusader]

Bellew doesn't seem to me like someone with a good chance of having a long reign as a cruiserweight champ. From a financial perspective, if he can get a Haye payday he'd probably be wise to take it.

[CaptainSpacerod]

If Haye's gonna carry on knocking over bums inside a couple of rounds why not fight once a month while suckers aren't wise to it

September Briggs, October Bellew, November Price then a Christmas extravaganza v Audley / Bruno.

[jamesmcdonnell]

If Haye's gonna carry on knocking over bums inside a couple of rounds why not fight once a month while suckers aren't wise to it

September Briggs, October Bellew, November Price then a Christmas extravaganza v Audley / Bruno.

Why would he bother?

He can fight every 4-6 months, hype up the load of old garbage he's selling, and get 20,000 pissed morons and celebrity wankers to come and watch.

[CaptainSpacerod]

If Haye's gonna carry on knocking over bums inside a couple of rounds why not fight once a month while suckers aren't wise to it

September Briggs, October Bellew, November Price then a Christmas extravaganza v Audley / Bruno.

Why would he bother?

He can fight every 4-6 months, hype up the load of old garbage he's selling, and get 20,000 pissed morons and celebrity wankers to come and watch.

Supremely accurate crowd description.

More fights more money. He can't be having proper camps anyway so why not roll em out and knock em over more frequently.

[jamesmcdonnell]

If Haye's gonna carry on knocking over bums inside a couple of rounds why not fight once a month while suckers aren't wise to it

September Briggs, October Bellew, November Price then a Christmas extravaganza v Audley / Bruno.

Why would he bother?

He can fight every 4-6 months, hype up the load of old garbage he's selling, and get 20,000 pissed morons and celebrity wankers to come and watch.

Supremely accurate crowd description.

More fights more money. He can't be having proper camps anyway so why not roll em out and knock em over more frequently.

Nah, it will be diminishing returns, pissed morons have other events to go to, they won't fork out once a month or even twice. Why put in more work than is necessary.

It's not like Haye is actually interested in becoming the main man in the division. He just wants a title shot and a big payday, win or lose.

[asdfjkl]

Why would he bother?

He can fight every 4-6 months, hype up the load of old garbage he's selling, and get 20,000 pissed morons and celebrity wankers to come and watch.

Supremely accurate crowd description.

More fights more money. He can't be having proper camps anyway so why not roll em out and knock em over more frequently.

Nah, it will be diminishing returns, pissed morons have other events to go to, they won't fork out once a month or even twice. Why put in more work than is necessary.

It's not like Haye is actually interested in becoming the main man in the division. He just wants a title shot and a big payday, win or lose.

Well, he's making quite nice money with these b-option boxers as well isn't he?

For me he's like the Deontay Wilder from Europe.

*I'd still have to admit, I did want to see him fighting Briggs, such boxers simply need to rule each other out.

[keithmoonhangover]

It's not like Haye is actually interested in becoming the main man in the division. He just wants a title shot and a big payday, win or lose.

You know I respect you, but that is complete tosh.

[jamesmcdonnell]

It's not like Haye is actually interested in becoming the main man in the division. He just wants a title shot and a big payday, win or lose.

You know I respect you, but that is complete tosh.

You really believe he intends to stick around to dominate the division, no chance.

[keithmoonhangover]

It's not like Haye is actually interested in becoming the main man in the division. He just wants a title shot and a big payday, win or lose.

You know I respect you, but that is complete tosh.

You really believe he intends to stick around to dominate the division, no chance.

He's got plenty of money already and he's invested wisely. Money is still a factor, but I know someone close to Haye and he wants to be at the top of the division and why the hell would he not? Joshua, Fury and Wilder are all fights he can win.

[jamesmcdonnell]

You know I respect you, but that is complete tosh.

You really believe he intends to stick around to dominate the division, no chance.

He's got plenty of money already and he's invested wisely. Money is still a factor, but I know someone close to Haye and he wants to be at the top of the division and why the hell would he not? Joshua, Fury and Wilder are all fights he can win.

Really? Then his current choice of fights is really puzzling - why would you fight 3 no hopers in a row in preparation for taking on any of those 3?

I'm not convinced. Haye may tell himself that, but he's not doing the work to prepare himself.

[mike john]

You know I respect you, but that is complete tosh.

You really believe he intends to stick around to dominate the division, no chance.

He's got plenty of money already and he's invested wisely. Money is still a factor, but I know someone close to Haye and he wants to be at the top of the division and why the hell would he not? Joshua, Fury and Wilder are all fights he can win.

seems a strange claim to make, looking at his last two opponents as well as the two he's lining up

[keithmoonhangover]

You really believe he intends to stick around to dominate the division, no chance.

He's got plenty of money already and he's invested wisely. Money is still a factor, but I know someone close to Haye and he wants to be at the top of the division and why the hell would he not? Joshua, Fury and Wilder are all fights he can win.

Really? Then his current choice of fights is really puzzling - why would you fight 3 no hopers in a row in preparation for taking on any of those 3?

I'm not convinced. Haye may tell himself that, but he's not doing the work to prepare himself.

He's just easing back into it. The Joshua fight was never going to happen straight away and from a business stand point, there is a ceiling price for the opponents.

[Autobarn]

The opposition really is rock bottom, regardless of Haye's plans.

You could make a case for them being worse than his fights as a novice pro.

[orbtastic]

Surely it's just about the money, as any sensible person would be.

I didn't hear any of his long post-fight interview as the TV was muted in the pub but I caught him on TV the day Ali died and he talked (at length as he always does...) and one of the things he said was he'd fight any cruiserweight or small heavyweight so naturally Haye's name popped up.

He's not daft, he'll get far more fighting Haye than he would against any cruiserweight, belts or not.

All good points, and you're probably right on all of them. Playing devil's advocate, could some other things apart from the money may make Bellew want this fight? One is if Haye gets any sort of version of the world heavyweight title first, although this fight realistically would probably happen before. Another is if he can get Haye to drain down a bit to some sort of daft artificial weight at the low end of heavyweight rather than come in at whatever Haye wants. The third is that Haye is the same guy who got wobbled by Lolenga Mock, a super-middleweight and Bellew may feel that no-one has really tried to put it on Haye since his move up to heavyweight.

As I say, that is just for the sake of being devil's advocate, and I still think Haye would win in a couple of rounds.

I'd imagine Bellew thinks he can win. I mean, the psychology of most fights is that you don't think you'll lose but I think Bellew knows he can stop people and probably thinks he has a chance.

No idea what the weight would be though.

I've nothing against Bellew really, he comes in for a bit of stick but he just seems to me like he's passionate and emotional and a bit hot headed and tends to fight with his heart rather than his head but it can make for dramatic fights/moments. I didn't think he'd come back from the KD in his title winning fight but he certainly turned it around and I'd imagine that's got to fuel your motivation and thought process as a fighter. Not to mention fighting at Everton (not sure if he mentioned this but I'd imagine he did more than once) in front of a home crowd.

[jamesmcdonnell]

He's got plenty of money already and he's invested wisely. Money is still a factor, but I know someone close to Haye and he wants to be at the top of the division and why the hell would he not? Joshua, Fury and Wilder are all fights he can win.

Really? Then his current choice of fights is really puzzling - why would you fight 3 no hopers in a row in preparation for taking on any of those 3?

I'm not convinced. Haye may tell himself that, but he's not doing the work to prepare himself.

He's just easing back into it. The Joshua fight was never going to happen straight away and from a business stand point, there is a ceiling price for the opponents.

These fights are a waste of time, aside from financially.

I'll make a sportsmans bet with you, that Haye will not face anyone who presents any realistic challenge before he fights Joshua/Fury/Wilder.

[keithmoonhangover]

Really? Then his current choice of fights is really puzzling - why would you fight 3 no hopers in a row in preparation for taking on any of those 3?

I'm not convinced. Haye may tell himself that, but he's not doing the work to prepare himself.

He's just easing back into it. The Joshua fight was never going to happen straight away and from a business stand point, there is a ceiling price for the opponents.

These fights are a waste of time, aside from financially.

I'll make a sportsmans bet with you, that Haye will not face anyone who presents any realistic challenge before he fights Joshua/Fury/Wilder.

I don't think he will, unless it's a final eliminator. Realistically, which fighters did that during their comeback? Foreman? Tyson after prision? They were both betting favourites over all their comeback foes.

[jamesmcdonnell]

He's just easing back into it. The Joshua fight was never going to happen straight away and from a business stand point, there is a ceiling price for the opponents.

These fights are a waste of time, aside from financially.

I'll make a sportsmans bet with you, that Haye will not face anyone who presents any realistic challenge before he fights Joshua/Fury/Wilder.

I don't think he will, unless it's a final eliminator. Realistically, which fighters did that during their comeback? Foreman? Tyson after prision? They were both betting favourites over all their comeback foes.

Foreman had been out of the ring 10 years, and still he fought Bert Cooper, Everett Martin, Gerry Cooney, and Adilson Rodrigues in the run in to his title fight with Holyfield - you're telling me that's no risk to a 40 something fighter?