[Earl-Hickey]

I know people say "oh well he talked all this rubbish" but the thing is its down to the sensible people to separate that from what was always likely to happe .

People loved the trash talking which was why they were always shoving a mic into his face.

Wlad talked shit too: "he insulted my family, I will punish him and knock him out" then 12 rounds of grab, miss, jab, miss, miss, jab, grab

The way I saw it, they both fought their usual styles but Wlads had the advantage

If people thought Haye was going to morph into Mike tyson and go on a rampage, well that's just stupid

 

[Felix]

Yes.

 

[Shocked Quartz]

To a large extent yes, see 'the toe'. He also dragged Klitschko's name through the mud and, having sat through Wlad's fight with Ibragimov amongst other snooze fests, I went along with it to a large extent. Having seen the documentary on them they now seem like good guys and I'm sad that I was taken in by Haye's propaganda.

Another factor that pissed me off is that I thought that Haye and Booth would come in with a game plan to beat Wlad, not a cautious approach waiting for a massive mistake that was never going to come. Haye needed to take a chance and launch attacks on Wlad which were sustained, chase him after he started backing off and work out of clinches. Not sure he'd even do this if he got another chance tbh.

 

[Earl-Hickey]

I think Haye and Booths plan was to insult Wlad and piss him off so that he WOULD come forward and make mistakes trying to KO Haye.

I mean Haye dropped his hands a lot and was sticking his chin out, but Wlad just would NOT take any risks.

 

[Shocked Quartz]

I think Haye and Booths plan was to insult Wlad and piss him off so that he WOULD come forward and make mistakes trying to KO Haye.

I mean Haye dropped his hands a lot and was sticking his chin out, but Wlad just would NOT take any risks.

I think if this was their plan it was naive, Wlad will never be a search and destroy type fighter.

 

[Lilo]

Absolutely.

He's doing the right things now. His reality TV stint repaired damage to his reputation for the casual fan. His promise to fight twice, against ranked contenders will repair his reputation for diehards. He will have 'earned' his shot.

Good luck to him

 

[kingkodi]

He certainly deserved some criticism. It's all history now anyway, personally I'm glad he's fighting again.

 

[Twelvey]

Wlad's jab, footwork and control of distance beat haye in a technically impressive fight. I think everyone was disappointed in the lack of fireworks hence the criticism. I think a more aggressive haye could get some change out of Wlad with the right ref. in the 12th round haye buzzed him but the ref was sick of haye falling in the clinches so Wlad got away with octopus mode for 10-15 seconds.

 

[Boxed Ears]

Mhmm.

 

[Felix]

It was honestly one of the most boring fights I've watched when broadcast. Froch-Dirrell being the other. The pair of them really damaged the reputation of the heavyweight division with that no-show.

 

[Roe]

Definitely. And I don't care what anyone says, the toe injury played a part.

 

[Earl-Hickey]

Definitely. And I don't care what anyone says, the toe injury played a part.

I've had a broken toe and its one of those things where you can walk round on it fine but if you put your foot down in certain positions it's fucking agony

I think just because it was a toe it was kind of funny so people take the piss, if it was a broken hand he wouldnt get so much shit for it

 

[Roe]

I've had a broken toe and its one of those things where you can walk round on it fine but if you put your foot down in certain positions it's fucking agony

I think just because it was a toe it was kind of funny so people take the piss, if it was a broken hand he wouldnt get so much shit for it

I know some people liked to take the piss because Haye was being a bit of a prick at the time - even I wanted Wlad to win and I like Haye quite a lot. But the people that completely dismissed the toe excuse were pretty ignorant IMO. Footwork was always gonna be a key area for a small guy to beat a bigger one.

 

[Hook!]

yes

 

[Post Box]

If people thought Haye was going to morph into Mike tyson and go on a rampage, well that's just stupid

This was always my criticism of the Haye backlash, if people/casual fans buy into the pre fight smack talk that much then shame on them. Share the same sentiment with Harrison too

 

[BUMPY]

I've had a broken toe and its one of those things where you can walk round on it fine but if you put your foot down in certain positions it's fucking agony

I think just because it was a toe it was kind of funny so people take the piss, if it was a broken hand he wouldnt get so much shit for it

I have had much experience with fucked up toes and I agree with you, but when you are taking part in a fight of that magnitude and you are in fight mode with the adrenaline pumping it wouldn't make a difference, lets not forget it wasn't his big toe, it was a pinky toe.

Either way I thought it was a shocking fight.

I'm glad he's back though and with the right game plan he can beat Wladimir or Vitali.

 

[scribbs]

No not really. I know it's his job to drum up interest for a fight but it got ridiculous the things coming out of his mouth. It did get him the fight but he was a no show until the 12th when he slightly wobbled Wlad, which showed me that if he had been more brave he could have maybe caused more issues earlier on. Yeah he may have been open himself to getting hurt but at least go for it.

It was embarrassing listening to him go on about his toe, should have just said he was flat, had flu or something else. He would still have got slagged off but not to the extent he did. Also his insistence that he would only fight the brothers did him no favours. He wasted so much time & talent.

A good Cruiserweight Champion & a decent Heavyweight, hopefully he can go to the top in the near future.

 

[Chatty]

Haye gets the perfect amount of criticism for his performance. He basically made a name beating domestic level opponents and shot fighters int he weight whilst being given a belt that should never have been his. He talked so much tripe and then put no effort into trying to win the fight, instead just accepting he was beaten after a couple of rounds and then sticking to the tactics of trying to survive.

Yeah Wlad's tactics are boring as hell but thats what he does and he has and always will get a load of stick for being dreadful to watch. Haye makes out like he's some sort of Gatti warrior but in reality his fights are normally near as boring as Wlads for the most part.

 

[Noonaldinho]

Haye gets the perfect amount of criticism for his performance. He basically made a name beating domestic level opponents and shot fighters int he weight whilst being given a belt that should never have been his. He talked so much tripe and then put no effort into trying to win the fight, instead just accepting he was beaten after a couple of rounds and then sticking to the tactics of trying to survive.

Yeah Wlad's tactics are boring as hell but thats what he does and he has and always will get a load of stick for being dreadful to watch. Haye makes out like he's some sort of Gatti warrior but in reality his fights are normally near as boring as Wlads for the most part.

Why shouldnt the WBA belt have been his?

 

[Earl-Hickey]

he's probably going to bang on about AIDS chagaev should of had the belt or something