BoxRec

Okay so Hasim Rahman and Oleg Maskaev have both opted out in favour of easier opponents, and Matt Skelton is apparently a no go for the Hayemaker.

Looking at the rankings, the only fighters who fall both in the 'name' and 'now vulnerable' category are

MONTE BARRETT
SHANNON BRIGGS
ANDREW GOLOTA
JAMEEL McCLINE
OLIVER McCALL

Personally i'd very happy with any of these guys as a first heavyweight test for Haye, and how he'd deal with any of them would give us a good yardstick for his title goals. How about your good selves?

Any of the one's you mention or someone like Jameel McCline who is a man mountain, and will give Haye a good taste of heavyweight leaning on.

He's also pretty sound in the chin department

You're so right that i actually had to edit the post as i could not believe i missed him out.

McCline is very big & durable and has surprised with his power. Good choice.

any of those guys, for f@@ks sake Haye SAY SOMETHING

I wonder about Hayes ambition, taking nearly a year off and beefing up out in Turkey.

Holyfield jumped right up to heavy only 2 months after whacking DeLeon, and hes already said adding all that extra muscle wont help Hayes punch power.

I would of preferred Haye at around 210-15, using his speed and power to box circles round these heavy ponderous crop.

At 230 lb of muscle hes going to be within firing range and i dont think hes got the ole whiskers to win a shoot out with a heavy, but you never know.

Team Haye are rightly playing their cards close to their chest.

Due to the impact they have already made and the splash they are going to make with future signings means there are plenty of people in boxing who will try their best to put the intevitable brick walls in their way, don't say that won't happen because it will and to a degree it already has.

So, with regards to an opponent I will be very surprised to find out anything until prospective opponents are tied up in knots into a contract, unfortunately for Haye he and his promotional team have ruffled far too many feathers for it to be any other way.

Wouldnt mind any of those names

Think barrett may be abit to live as a first opponent though, probably a good 2nd opponent

boxrec wrote:Evander Holyfield = easy win

Is Holyfield easy for anyone?

He just went 12 competitive rds with one of the top fighters in the world in Ibragimov, who refused to mix it up with him.

How can you judge how much hes aged since Ibragimov since he hasn't fought since?

How on earth can you believe that Holyfield will collapse like the inept and chinny Tomas Bonin??? No one can blow out Holyfield, far too cagey and experienced.

Question- when was the last time we saw Holyfield stunned by a shot? Not talking outboxed, talking HURT?

overhand_right wrote:How can you judge how much hes aged since Ibragimov since he hasn't fought since?

Because he's been alive for a further nine months, which, unless he knows something the rest of humanity doesn't, would mean he has aged nine months since.

Oh right, aged in the most literal sense.

I was thinking he meant he'd had some sparring sessions or something and was looking like Quarry. Cant be bothered explaining, sure you get my drift.

overhand_right wrote:Oh right, aged in the most literal sense.

I was thinking he meant he'd had some sparring sessions or something and was looking like Quarry. Cant be bothered explaining, sure you get my drift.

Yeah, of course, but however you look at it, it's safe to say he isn't getting any younger!

Holyfield has only looked sharp vs clubfighters/journeymen of recent.

Haye would get stick for beating Evander; people would naturally say Holyfield was better than Haye will ever be at both cruiser and heavy. Evander probably isn't top 10 in anyone's ratings either, is he?

I had no problems with Maeskov(sp)
If I was picking I prob would stay away from McCall types, fighters he would beat for every minute of 10 rounds, but who ultimately could take Haye's power, and then the Englishman could fall apart in the last two rounds.
Also he would get no credit at all for losing against such fighters

MONTE BARRETT - KO 2
SHANNON BRIGGS - TKO 5
ANDREW GOLOTA - KO 1
JAMEEL McCLINE - LATE TKO/PTS
OLIVER McCALL - LATE TKO/PTS

The division is actually in such a state that the majority of the top contenders he would destroy, never mind the riff raff on the fringes or on the way out like this lot.

Rahman would have been an interesting fight. I just can't help thinking we're all going to be disappointed by the naming of his opponent. At the end of the day "a top 10 fighter" could be anyone these days in the various rankings.

i still think haye should stay away from oliver mccall, his chin is just tooooooo good..

rhino222 wrote:i still think haye should stay away from oliver mccall, his chin is just tooooooo good..

yeah agreed.

a knockout is what we wanna see.

bring monte barrett over.

I'd add Chris Arreola to that list. He's top 10 in 3 of the 4 World Bodies, and he's willing to fight him.

Arreola isn't a name though.

Arreola may be out as he seems to be on the verge of becoming a huge draw in the US being a Mexican HW. I was surprised that they took the relative risk of the Witherspoon fight so it's not out of the question i suppose.

I've said it before & i've said it again that a fight with Ibragimov would be best. So that everyone can compare his perfomance directly to Wlad's. He's too fast and pesky for big slow US HWs to give him a bout and i'm sure has 0 following so should be ready to do business. He's not in the top ten though so he's out i suppose.

Golota would be ok, as he gets himself in shape still and is a genuine big HW who can box but he's been blown out early before so i'm not sure how much credit Haye would get for doing it again. It would also mean dealing with Don King.

Looking at the WBC & WBA top tens I can't help but feel it will be a let down when the opponent is announced as there's so much anticipation. Kali Meehan would be a good tactical move but pretty unispiring.

Shirow wrote:Arreola may be out as he seems to be on the verge of becoming a huge draw in the US being a Mexican HW. I was surprised that they took the relative risk of the Witherspoon fight so it's not out of the question i suppose.

I think it is out of the question. I remember Arreola's handlers saying, after the Witherspoon fight, that they were going to build up Arreola. I can't remember the exact words or where I saw it though.

Golota I suppose is coming off a win and looked pretty poor doing it.

Briggs I suppose would be the best considering he only lost the world title in his last fight.

McCline will be considered a nearly man always.

Haye is going to be on Setanta shortly for the Klitschko fight.

any idea when the main event begins? 10 pm?

BAMBI wrote:any idea when the main event begins? 10 pm?

9:30 PM, I think.