Meet the new WBA Heavyweight Champion of the world

[JT Rock]

You cant deny Hayes size, quickness and athleticism though, the guy is a one punch difference maker. If he fought every once in a while people might take him more seriously...

I'll wager a good lot that Haye is/was on PED's or straight up Roids.

[El Kabong]

My main issues with Haye (other than his antics outside the ring) are his size and his style. His size is nothing special in the current heavyweight division where the major title holders and Nicolay Valuev (he, Don King, and the WBA itself has made his title less meaningful) are all over 6'5 meaning guys like David Haye are already at a disadvantage when it comes to size/height/reach and the only way you can make up for that in the heavyweight division is to either be a technically better boxer or be able to take punishment and still dish out punishment. Haye's style in the cruiserweight division was one where he would land a big bomb and drop his opponent OR stand and trade with his opponent those may work vs limited competition in the heavyweight division but I would recomend that he decide to do something other than what he is currently known for...backing up all the time isn't going to help him much either

I don't want to totally deny the guy all credit, he accomplished good things in the cruiserweight division, but that should be viewed the same as his amateur record...it means NOTHING in the heavyweight division, I know I've been taken to task for posting that before but it's true! Other than Evander Holyfield who else has been a successful heavyweight after being a cruiserweight? James Toney? Vasiliy Jirov? Dwight Qawi? Bert Cooper? Those guys did pretty good at cruiserweight but never really did all that great at heavyweight...maybe David Haye can prove me wrong but history is against him.

Right now David Haye is a circus act and I won't take him seriously until he proves himself to be a true heavyweight.

[rjj tszyu]

My main issues with Haye (other than his antics outside the ring) are his size and his style. His size is nothing special in the current heavyweight division where the major title holders and Nicolay Valuev (he, Don King, and the WBA itself has made his title less meaningful) are all over 6'5 meaning guys like David Haye are already at a disadvantage when it comes to size/height/reach and the only way you can make up for that in the heavyweight division is to either be a technically better boxer or be able to take punishment and still dish out punishment. Haye's style in the cruiserweight division was one where he would land a big bomb and drop his opponent OR stand and trade with his opponent those may work vs limited competition in the heavyweight division but I would recomend that he decide to do something other than what he is currently known for...backing up all the time isn't going to help him much either

I don't want to totally deny the guy all credit, he accomplished good things in the cruiserweight division, but that should be viewed the same as his amateur record...it means NOTHING in the heavyweight division, I know I've been taken to task for posting that before but it's true! Other than Evander Holyfield who else has been a successful heavyweight after being a cruiserweight? James Toney? Vasiliy Jirov? Dwight Qawi? Bert Cooper? Those guys did pretty good at cruiserweight but never really did all that great at heavyweight...maybe David Haye can prove me wrong but history is against him.

Right now David Haye is a circus act and I won't take him seriously until he proves himself to be a true heavyweight.

First of all Lyle, Haye could go back through time knock out Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman and Joe Frazier come back to the present day beat both Klits at the same time and you still wouldn't take him seriously.

Secondly you have to remember the Cruiserweight division is a relatively young division and it is not a glamour division like the Heavies or light Heavies so many who could make a living there will naturally choose to go either north or south where the glamour is.

As for his size, he is the same height as George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, he weighs in now as a comfortable 215-220lbs fighter, he is completely in shape (which I don't think you can even argue) and a lot of his problems at cruiser stemmed from him draining too much weight and basically crippling himself to make weight.

Can I ask, Would you give him any credit if he KO's Valuev? Because thats the outcome I see in a very similar fight to the 1934 Baer-Carnera fight, providing Valuev knows how to get up! If I'm wrong and Haye does not even beat Valuev then I'll hold my hand up and say I was wrong about him, I just don't see it!

[AdamGB]

I'd be Heavyweight Champ too if I could take a sledge hammer into the ring with me!!

[El Kabong]

First of all Lyle, Haye could go back through time knock out Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman and Joe Frazier come back to the present day beat both Klits at the same time and you still wouldn't take him seriously.

Secondly you have to remember the Cruiserweight division is a relatively young division and it is not a glamour division like the Heavies or light Heavies so many who could make a living there will naturally choose to go either north or south where the glamour is.

As for his size, he is the same height as George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, he weighs in now as a comfortable 215-220lbs fighter, he is completely in shape (which I don't think you can even argue) and a lot of his problems at cruiser stemmed from him draining too much weight and basically crippling himself to make weight.

Can I ask, Would you give him any credit if he KO's Valuev? Because thats the outcome I see in a very similar fight to the 1934 Baer-Carnera fight, providing Valuev knows how to get up! If I'm wrong and Haye does not even beat Valuev then I'll hold my hand up and say I was wrong about him, I just don't see it!

As much as he talks you would think he had knocked out all those All-Time Greats

The cruiserweight division is a poor division for a reason, it's not just because the money, it's because the guys there can't make 175 or they can't have success in the heavyweight division.

The points you try to make with Ali and Foreman's weight are ERRONEOUS because of better healthcare and new training methods. Today's heavyweights are BIGGER. Also Haye "crippling himself to make weight" begs the question "Why would David Haye WASTE the early part of his career in a lackluster division?"

Sure I'll give him credit for beating Valuev, but I am sure it's not going to be all that easy for Haye to do and I doubt he'll get a KO because Haye likes to land the big ONE punch instead of landing a series of meaningful punches.

I will take David Haye seriously when he treats the sport seriously

[AdamGB]

I think he ended up as a cruiser because he was young.

He had to stop boxing as a light heavy in the amatuers when he hit his twentys, couldn't make the weight anymore.

I think he's been out growing cruiser for a while now, but the closer he was getting to belts/unification etc the longer he was going to stay in that division. Might as well see the job through when you're almost there.

[El Kabong]

...Haye should have committed himself to being a heavyweight. If he was walking around at 220-240 he should have been able to make 210-218 easy and fought as a heavyweight starting out and grown into it....but I'm thinking that his handlers figured that it may have exposed him early to too much danger and that's another reason to question the hell out of the guy.

Michael Moorer went from 175 to heavyweight and jumped right to heavyweight with no issue.

[DaxxKahn]

...Haye should have committed himself to being a heavyweight. If he was walking around at 220-240 he should have been able to make 210-218 easy and fought as a heavyweight starting out and grown into it....but I'm thinking that his handlers figured that it may have exposed him early to too much danger and that's another reason to question the hell out of the guy.

Michael Moorer went from 175 to heavyweight and jumped right to heavyweight with no issue.

David Haye is no where near the caliber a prime Michale Moorer is

[Master]

Haye will beat Valuev, then take care and retire Ruiz (for the US fans), then Audley (for the British fans) and lose to Wlad.

[Conrad]

If Haye is the man to finally slay the giant then I think he deserves all the credit in the world, even from Lyle. Haye has no chin and shit stanima but you gotta hand it to him, he has great athleticism and power. Maybe not proven at HW yet but that doesn't mean he doesn't have it....

Another previous pic...

[El Kabong]

If Haye is the man to finally slay the giant then I think he deserves all the credit in the world, even from Lyle. Haye has no chin and shit stanima but you gotta hand it to him, he has great athleticism and power. Maybe not proven at HW yet but that doesn't mean he doesn't have it....

Even if Haye beats Valuev, David will not have been in with a heavyweight power puncher and once again it'll bring up the issue of his chin. If David can not be bothered by Valuev's boxing then there may be hope for him in the division, but if he's stymied by Valuev's boxing then it's going to be a brutal run in the heavyweight division for him.

When in his career has David Haye shown he can stand in with a top 10 heavyweight?? His fight vs Bonin was too short and his fight vs Monte Barrett was sloppy as hell.

[rjj tszyu]

I think he ended up as a cruiser because he was young.

He had to stop boxing as a light heavy in the amatuers when he hit his twentys, couldn't make the weight anymore.

I think he's been out growing cruiser for a while now, but the closer he was getting to belts/unification etc the longer he was going to stay in that division. Might as well see the job through when you're almost there.

You've hit the nail on the head there!

[AdamGB]

I think he ended up as a cruiser because he was young.

He had to stop boxing as a light heavy in the amatuers when he hit his twentys, couldn't make the weight anymore.

I think he's been out growing cruiser for a while now, but the closer he was getting to belts/unification etc the longer he was going to stay in that division. Might as well see the job through when you're almost there.

You've hit the nail on the head there!

And personally I think that it's ludicrous to suggest that cruiser weights are simply taking refuge there and avoiding light heavy or heavy weight...

on average most weight classes have a range of 6-7 pounds.

Cruiserweight has a range of 15 pounds... 15 pounds, twice that or more of most other divisions... it's insane to suggest that out of a range of 15 pounds, that fighters only box there to take refuge from heavyweight and light heavyweight and don't just naturally fall there.

It also strikes me as contradictory to say elsewhere that cruisers like david haye etc are too small to make good heavyweights and then criticise them for not fighting at heavyweight from the start of their career.