David Haye - Retiring?

[AdamGB]

If Haye had had a fight or two since stopping Chisora then he may have found himself in a manditory position.

Instead he thinks he can fuck about with celebrity TV and fitness DVDs and that not getting KO'd by Wlad and holding the WBA belts now years ago make a strong enough case.

[Fenster]

Haye being mandatory wouldn't have made a difference to this fight. He's already rated by the WBC so they'd accept Vitali-Haye over ANYTHING (bigger the fight, bigger the fees and publicity for shitty alphabet).

[Master]

Honestly Vitali doesn't seem to be completely dedicated and focused on the sport ... I think he wants maybe 1 or 2 more fights and wants to retire on top. Ironically he's heading towards the same exit from the sport as his "rival" Lennox Lewis ... Klitschko fans have for nearly a decade continued to berate and blast Lewis for "running into retirement" in "fear" of a rematch against Vitali. Who would've imagined that Vitali would be going out in the same fashion ... by refusing a fight with David Haye ... someone that he verbally agreed to fight. So does that mean that both Vitali Klitschko and Lennox Lewis "ducked" their way into retirement?

Both cases are no, Lewis busted up Vitali and won. End of story.
Vitali does not need Haye who is pure hype and exposed by Wlad. The end.

[AdamGB]

Haye being mandatory wouldn't have made a difference to this fight. He's already rated by the WBC so they'd accept Vitali-Haye over ANYTHING (bigger the fight, bigger the fees and publicity for shitty alphabet).

That ignores the fact that K2 just don't like him... They already hold all of the cards here... So now they get to make things as awkward as possible and Haye has little recourse but to either play ball or retire.

[TysonBomb]

Honestly Vitali doesn't seem to be completely dedicated and focused on the sport ... I think he wants maybe 1 or 2 more fights and wants to retire on top. Ironically he's heading towards the same exit from the sport as his "rival" Lennox Lewis ... Klitschko fans have for nearly a decade continued to berate and blast Lewis for "running into retirement" in "fear" of a rematch against Vitali. Who would've imagined that Vitali would be going out in the same fashion ... by refusing a fight with David Haye ... someone that he verbally agreed to fight. So does that mean that both Vitali Klitschko and Lennox Lewis "ducked" their way into retirement?

Both cases are no, Lewis busted up Vitali and won. End of story.
Vitali does not need Haye who is pure hype and exposed by Wlad. The end.

Nope Haye had an injured toe

I think in both cases the respective champions should take on the challenger and keep up with the tradition of the "young tiger vs the old lion".

Lewis should've fought Vitali again in a rematch ... he said that if the money was right he'd do it ... a rematch with Vitali would've generated huge revenues and the projected purses for either fighter would have been big. It would have been one of the most lucrative fights in either fighters career. There hasn't been a truly "great" heavyweight bout since then.

Yeah Lewis "won" the fight but it was on a technicality ... I don't believe in "lucky punches" or "lucky cuts" (especially when the guy with the cuts looks like half his face is torn off) but Vitali was ahead on all scorecards and Lewis was dead tired. Lennox did the smart thing by retiring and not risking another fight with a prime Vitali Klitschko but to many, it looks like he ducked him into retirement. Granted he was aging at the time but this was just one year after he came off pounding his chest when he beat Tyson. And Lennox himself states that he was a rather "late bloomer" and took his time in developing and maturing as a boxer, so he wasn't that old. Plus I've seen him state in interviews that he beat Vitali at "his worst" ... so why not get in shape and fight him again to settle the score?? Wouldn't it have been "easy money" to fight him again and another big name on your resume? Makes no sense not to fight unless you don't think you can beat him.

Not taking the rematch didn't do his legacy any favors, but it didn't do it any harm either since he went out on top and handed a prime Vitali a L on his record. Honestly that win over Klitschko is probably one of the best wins if not the best on his resume.

As for Haye I think Vitali should just fight him mostly because of two reasons ... the first being that he made a verbal agreement to fight him and so for the sake of integrity he should fight him. The second reason being that beating Haye would be a statement win for him. There is no one else in this division that has as much drawing power or is as big of a name as David Haye. If he beats him convincingly and retires it would be a potential "storybook ending" for him ... his resume is not that special right now and putting Haye on there would help it out.

In both cases the potential matchups are the best available. L. Lewis vs. V. Klitschko II would have been the best fight for that time and for now D. Haye vs. V. Klitschko is the best possible contest. Just my opinion but I'd think that man would agree.

[Rantcatrat]

It's a shame that we don't get to see Haye versus Arreola, Pulev, Adamek, or any other top ten heavyweight.

[Master]

Honestly Vitali doesn't seem to be completely dedicated and focused on the sport ... I think he wants maybe 1 or 2 more fights and wants to retire on top. Ironically he's heading towards the same exit from the sport as his "rival" Lennox Lewis ... Klitschko fans have for nearly a decade continued to berate and blast Lewis for "running into retirement" in "fear" of a rematch against Vitali. Who would've imagined that Vitali would be going out in the same fashion ... by refusing a fight with David Haye ... someone that he verbally agreed to fight. So does that mean that both Vitali Klitschko and Lennox Lewis "ducked" their way into retirement?

Both cases are no, Lewis busted up Vitali and won. End of story.
Vitali does not need Haye who is pure hype and exposed by Wlad. The end.

Nope Haye had an injured toe

I think in both cases the respective champions should take on the challenger and keep up with the tradition of the "young tiger vs the old lion".

Lewis should've fought Vitali again in a rematch ... he said that if the money was right he'd do it ... a rematch with Vitali would've generated huge revenues and the projected purses for either fighter would have been big. It would have been one of the most lucrative fights in either fighters career. There hasn't been a truly "great" heavyweight bout since then.

Yeah Lewis "won" the fight but it was on a technicality ... I don't believe in "lucky punches" or "lucky cuts" (especially when the guy with the cuts looks like half his face is torn off) but Vitali was ahead on all scorecards and Lewis was dead tired. Lennox did the smart thing by retiring and not risking another fight with a prime Vitali Klitschko but to many, it looks like he ducked him into retirement. Granted he was aging at the time but this was just one year after he came off pounding his chest when he beat Tyson. And Lennox himself states that he was a rather "late bloomer" and took his time in developing and maturing as a boxer, so he wasn't that old. Plus I've seen him state in interviews that he beat Vitali at "his worst" ... so why not get in shape and fight him again to settle the score?? Wouldn't it have been "easy money" to fight him again and another big name on your resume? Makes no sense not to fight unless you don't think you can beat him.

Not taking the rematch didn't do his legacy any favors, but it didn't do it any harm either since he went out on top and handed a prime Vitali a L on his record. Honestly that win over Klitschko is probably one of the best wins if not the best on his resume.

As for Haye I think Vitali should just fight him mostly because of two reasons ... the first being that he made a verbal agreement to fight him and so for the sake of integrity he should fight him. The second reason being that beating Haye would be a statement win for him. There is no one else in this division that has as much drawing power or is as big of a name as David Haye. If he beats him convincingly and retires it would be a potential "storybook ending" for him ... his resume is not that special right now and putting Haye on there would help it out.

In both cases the potential matchups are the best available. L. Lewis vs. V. Klitschko II would have been the best fight for that time and for now D. Haye vs. V. Klitschko is the best possible contest. Just my opinion but I'd think that man would agree.

If Lewis could make money against Vitali he may have taken it, but Vitali was not an established fighter then to generate the money he could do now. He did try to entice Lewis out of retirement after he became the dominant champion but Lewis wisely left it.