Quote Originally Posted by erics44 View Post
Quote Originally Posted by CFH View Post
So you're telling me that Barrett, Valeuv, Ruiz, and Harrison were the best opponents available? There are reason's he took all those fights, but that's hardly a Pacquiao-esque resume.

They only exciting fight Haye has had at HW was against Ruiz, and we all knew that was a gimme going in. The Valuev fight was literally one of the worst fights I have ever seen, Barrett was a joke, and the Harrison fight was a joke AND one of the worst fights I have ever seen. That is not an impressive resume, though I would agree that Valuev was a decent opponent on paper, the outcome of the other fights (and even the Valuev fight I would argue) was never in doubt. There were always better fights out there (bar Valuev). I applaud him his role in finally making the fight with Wlad, and I don't have the visceral hatred for him that some people on here do, but it's not like Haye has been taking all comers.

To address some of your other points:

Even with Haye as a belt-holder, people outside of the UK still don't give a flying fuck about the HW division. I would argue that him being a star in Britain has about the same effect on the popularity of the division as Wlad being a star in Germany does. It's great for fans within those countries, but it doesn't seem to mean all that much to everyone else. There's huge hype about this fight because the two best fighters, both of whom appear vulnerable, in the division are fighting a unification bout (something which hasn't happened in what feels like decades), but it's not just because of Haye.

And Arreola wouldn't land a punch on David Haye, they're not even in the same class. And given the way he fought Valuev I would expect him to fight relatively defensively if they ever did meet. He knows his chin is suspect and he would be fool to fight in away that played into his opponents only strength.
sorry mate i dont agree with the bits following the "to address some of your other points"

and to be frank i dont think you agree with yourself

just answer me one question honestly

would you rather watch Haye v any of the top 10 opponents or Wlad Klit v one of them? and give me a number 1 to 10 of how much you would rather watch it
It would all depend of the opponent. I'd much rather watch Wlad fight a legitimate (as legitimate as they get these days) contender than watch Haye beat up a walking corpse like Harrison, but if the situations were reversed I'd obviously rather watch Haye.

Opponents aside, Haye is a more exciting fighter than Wlad. He's more athletic and seems more vulnerable, which makes him more interesting in the ring. That being said, I don't think he's been a very exciting fighter at heavyweight. The Ruiz fight was fun, but Barrett was a slaughter, Valuev was - again - one of the worst fights I have ever seen, and Harrision was an embarrassment. Haye was much more exciting as a Cruiser. Would I rather see him than Wlad fight a random top 10 Heavyweight? I would say yes, but that doesn't mean Haye is a super-exciting, division-saving fighter, because he is not.

All this stuff aside, I'm really looking forward to this fight. I literally can't remember another time I was legitimately excited about a HW fight, but that's not solely a result of Haye.