BoxRec

Where next for David Haye?

He needs to slow down and up the quality of opponent slowly. Of course he needs to step up from the last opponent. I think he needs to fight guys like Keeton, Delaney, Swaby etc before thinking of Thompson, Hobson and Maccranelli.

Have to say, I didn't like Haye's attitude following his last fight. It was as if he doesn't mind losing aslong as he entertains the fans. Not what he was saying when he started his career. I would rather win badly than a glorious defeat.

I think that is a good point. Fans will appreciate somebody hungry that occasionally takes a scrappy win, just as long as its a win.

Though some boxers try to fool the public by fighting bums, boxing fans are not the idiots some part of the media make out. They can see who is wanting to win, and who is wanting to pick up wonga.

I still think Haye was right in taking the Thompson fight, so it didn’t pay off but I bet he learnt a lot more in defeat than if he had managed to blow Thompson away in the first.

He comes across as an intelligent type and I’m sure he’ll put right what mistakes were made.
David Haye will come back strongly, and we will all be on the edge of our seats watching , when Benn fought we all had in the back of our mind he could always get hurt even when things seemed to be going all his way, the same will apply to Haye.
Is that such a bad thing?

Not at all. I don't understand these people, who have a go at some boxers for not fighting any one good. I know it was early in his career, but some people were saying Audley should fight good people in like his second fight. (Not that I am saying that I don't want to see him against good fighters.)

However, when Haye takes a 50/50 fight in his 11th fight, he is too early.
The same people then criticise him for taking an easy fight next.

I think Haye should be praised for taking on a dangerous but beatable fighter like Thompson.

The trick is though, will he learn from the mistakes he made during that fight?

That is the really important question.

I know what you mean. Lets hope he does. He seemed to be under the impression a quick flurry would be enough to put away Thompson, like the rest of his opponents.

Maybe it's time to rethink his strategy.

stujones wrote:He needs to slow down and up the quality of opponent slowly. Of course he needs to step up from the last opponent. I think he needs to fight guys like Keeton, Delaney, Swaby etc before thinking of Thompson, Hobson and Maccranelli.

Have to say, I didn't like Haye's attitude following his last fight. It was as if he doesn't mind losing aslong as he entertains the fans. Not what he was saying when he started his career. I would rather win badly than a glorious defeat.

Yep, I agree. I'm hoping that now the Cruiserweight limit has been raised he will slow down and get some more experience.

I'm sure that towards the start of his career he was worried that he would mature into a small heavyweight, so his best chance of championship belts was at Cruiserweight.

I didn't see his fight with Thompson :( but I would rather a fighter take a loss like that early in his career than late. I'm fed up with fighters not taking risks and keeping the 0 on the right side of their record, its ok if they do it over a short time period like Tyson but Hatton for example has been a pro for 7 Years! Fighters lose just like football teams lose, I dont understand why people should lose interest in a fighter just because he had a bad day?

Haye is a breath of fresh air and wants to challenge himself early, I dont see anything wrong with that. I just hope we are able to see him on our screens because I get the feeling its going to be a fun ride.

No, I didn't mean to criticise Haye for his decisions before the Thompson fight. I thought he would have beaten Thompson but even in defeat I hope he will learn. What I didn't like is that he seems intend on being a "Micky Ward" mindset (entertain the fans rather than win).

This "I want to be the underdog" tone he was taking in the interview following his win was alot different to how he was sounding early on his career and "calculated risks" was the key before. He shouldn't want to fight Thomspon now 1) He hasn't earned another fight 2) Its too soon.

It will always be exciting to watch David Haye from now on, we know he can be hurt, just like we knew Benn could.

It does seem the unblemished record is a over hyped thing anyway, Buck Smith had a fantastic record for a long while, you only learn by mixing in good company, Lennox, Collins and Benn for instance went to America to mix it and they really improved, but then we have the likes of Naz who beat the second division fighters and then decided to try to break America..and came unstuck almost immediately, but credit to him he did try.

Then we’ve got Calzaghe and Hatton, two gifted fighters for sure, but will their fighting edge have been blunted by too many soft touches when they do manage to go with the big boys?

David Haye may well benefit by spending some time in the USA, the division is healthier than I can remember it for a while, he is young enough and talented enough to make an impact, as long as he has the right people behind him.

Another big hitting British fighter Nigel Benn came back from an early career loss to Michael Watson, learnt from his mistakes and bacame a much better fighter.

It's now time for Haye to show wether he has the strength of chararcter to do the same.

His handlers are trying to make a match with Euro champ Gurov who has been offered £150,000

chris s wrote:His handlers are trying to make a match with Euro champ Gurov who has been offered £150,000

Hasn't Haye sparred with him before?

tonyevs wrote:It will always be exciting to watch David Haye from now on, we know he can be hurt, just like we knew Benn could.

It does seem the unblemished record is a over hyped thing anyway, Buck Smith had a fantastic record for a long while, you only learn by mixing in good company, Lennox, Collins and Benn for instance went to America to mix it and they really improved, but then we have the likes of Naz who beat the second division fighters and then decided to try to break America..and came unstuck almost immediately, but credit to him he did try.

Then we’ve got Calzaghe and Hatton, two gifted fighters for sure, but will their fighting edge have been blunted by too many soft touches when they do manage to go with the big boys?

David Haye may well benefit by spending some time in the USA, the division is healthier than I can remember it for a while, he is young enough and talented enough to make an impact, as long as he has the right people behind him.

with all due respect, Hamed came unstuck long before he got to America, he started to believe all the 'allah's messenger' bollocks, and thought his 'god given' talent would see him through, he gave up roadwork, and then gave up training in between fights, so that his training camps became fat-busting missions.

in terms of committment to the sport and true desire, i think Benn and Eubank were much better fighters. Neither had the natural talent of Hamed, but they made a lot more of the talent they had.

Haye has a chance to do things a more conventional route now, I personally have nothing bad to say about the people around him, but surely he would benefit from going to America, and getting in some top quality sparring. I think he would probably benefit from being in a harsh gym where he isn't able to dictate his own training regime.

In his last fight before going to America, Hamed was phenominal against Badillo. He had to go to America 'cause there were no other fights for him.

I suppose you must be right about the training 'cause he was no way near as good after that. :(

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

tonyevs wrote:It will always be exciting to watch David Haye from now on, we know he can be hurt, just like we knew Benn could.

It does seem the unblemished record is a over hyped thing anyway, Buck Smith had a fantastic record for a long while, you only learn by mixing in good company, Lennox, Collins and Benn for instance went to America to mix it and they really improved, but then we have the likes of Naz who beat the second division fighters and then decided to try to break America..and came unstuck almost immediately, but credit to him he did try.

Then we’ve got Calzaghe and Hatton, two gifted fighters for sure, but will their fighting edge have been blunted by too many soft touches when they do manage to go with the big boys?

David Haye may well benefit by spending some time in the USA, the division is healthier than I can remember it for a while, he is young enough and talented enough to make an impact, as long as he has the right people behind him.

with all due respect, Hamed came unstuck long before he got to America, he started to believe all the 'allah's messenger' bollocks, and thought his 'god given' talent would see him through, he gave up roadwork, and then gave up training in between fights, so that his training camps became fat-busting missions.

in terms of committment to the sport and true desire, i think Benn and Eubank were much better fighters. Neither had the natural talent of Hamed, but they made a lot more of the talent they had.

Haye has a chance to do things a more conventional route now, I personally have nothing bad to say about the people around him, but surely he would benefit from going to America, and getting in some top quality sparring. I think he would probably benefit from being in a harsh gym where he isn't able to dictate his own training regime.

By fighting much inferior opposition like he did whilst in the UK he could get away with whatever he did in his training camp.
And this then probably became a norm in his training camp when he went to America.
This is what I mean by blunting their fighting edge with too many soft touches.

Look at Glencoffe Johnson, he has done it the hard way from day one, it is very unlikely he’ll encounter anything new this late in his career, so he knows what to do to stay on top of his game, he isn’t going to suddenly think he can get away with doing less of this or more of that.

Hamed's position with regard to his training and his management were already becoming difficult before the American adventure. He began to fall out with Ingle and wanted to dictate how and when he would train.

It's a perfect example of a talent being eclipsed by ego.