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Is David Haye targeting old men?
Here's an interesting article on David Haye:
http://hubpages.com/hub/David-Haye-the-pensioner-basher
http://hubpages.com/hub/David-Haye-the-pensioner-basher
Is David Haye targeting old men?
David Haye may be one of the most talked about figures in world boxing today, one of 4 British World champions (with Carl Froch, Amir Khan and Ricky Burns) and probably the biggest Pay Per View selling in Britain. He has however lacked the wins that would help give him the memorable legacy that both Froch and Khan appear to be chasing by fighting the best fighters out there. Opponent for opponent the likes of Kessler, Dirrell, Abraham, Pascal and Taylor (Froch's last 5 opponents) over shadow the opponents Haye has faced. In fact Khans opponents which include Marcos Maidana, Andriy Kotelnik and Paulie Malignaggi also seem to at least equal Haye's best wins.
The common problem with David Haye is that he runs his mouth but fails to back it up, he's called out the Klitschkos for over 2 years but is yet to face either of them, he was supposed to be the saviour of the Heavyweight division though has been unable to ignite the fire that the division so needed. His loud brash attitude seemed to appeal quickly to fans looking for a character to become the face of the Heavyweight division, the Americans were sold, the British were sold...and then Haye started to fight opponents that weren't worth watching. The Americans were quick to turn their back on Haye though the Brits have been slow to do so, with a few fans starting to turn away in recent months, mainly due to the Audley Harrison fight which was simple a cash spinning non entity.
Although the biggest problem with Haye has been his failure to face either of the Klitschko's, other complaints also exists with Haye. One being that he only fights old men, a bit of a reputation that seems deserved and one that seems as though it will grow unless he quickly faces either a Klitschko or a prime young pup form the heavyweight division. This isn't blind hatred or just trying to down play Hayes achievements but just stating the facts. Look at the table below to see what I mean: (Note Glenn Kelly was just 4 days short of turning 34 when he faced Haye)
David Haye's 34 year old or older opponents
Roger Bowden was 34 Haye was 22 difference 12 years
Vance Winn was 39 Haye was 22 difference 17 years
Greg Scott Briggs was 37 Haye was 22 difference 15 years
Arthur Williams was 39 Haye was 23 difference 16 years
Carl Thompson was 40 Haye was 23 difference 17 years
Garry Delaney was 34, Haye was 24 difference 10 years
Oleksandr Hurov was 34 Haye was 25 difference 9 years
Giacobbe Fragomeni was 36 Haye was 26 difference 10 years
Jean Marc Mormeck was 35 Haye was 27 difference 8 years
Monte Barrett was 37 Haye 28 difference 9 years
Nikolay Valuev was 36 29 difference 7 years
John Ruiz was 38 Haye was 29 difference 9 years
Audley Harrison was 39 Haye was 30 difference 9 years
Combined age of:
opponents: 478
Haye: 330
difference: 148
Average:
36.77
25.38
11.38
As you can see from the table Haye has fought much older opponents throughout his career. He has fought 26 times as a professional, and 13 of them were 34 or older. Other opponents, such as Arthur Williams and Tony Booth were 30 or older (and both of those were at least 10 years older than Haye himself). In total everyone of Hayes opponents was older than himself (Enzo Maccarinelli was the closest to Hayes age, just 2 months older). It's hard to be sure whether or not this was by design or not though it would seem an odd coincidence that Haye has never been the “senior” fighter in the ring.
As you can see most interestingly Haye has only ever defended against old heavyweights. Of his 3 Heavyweight title fights, his opponents have averaged 8.3 years older than Haye. Some people don't think that much of ages in boxing, but that's the same sort of difference as between Vitali Klitschko and Evander Holyfield, a fight that would see Klitschko thoroughly slated. Although it's often been joked by Haye haters (or “Hayeters” as some have dubbed them) that he'll end up facing Evander Holyfield next, it's not hard to see him facing Hasim Rahman next. Rahman is ranked #5 by the WBA and could well be the mandatory for Haye if the following takes place:
- Hayes team out bid Chagaev's team (Chagaev can't get a license to fight in Britain) for the mandatory
- Boystov remains injured
- Povetkin decides not to take the fight (he's also injured)
- Ustinov also decides not to take the fight
- Rahman takes the fight
Rahman is currently aged 38 and would seem the ideal age for a Haye opponent, would this situation be perfect for Haye? Maybe. His legacy seems to be one that's full of poor looking wins whilst talking a good game, what's one more poor looking win?
David Haye may be one of the most talked about figures in world boxing today, one of 4 British World champions (with Carl Froch, Amir Khan and Ricky Burns) and probably the biggest Pay Per View selling in Britain. He has however lacked the wins that would help give him the memorable legacy that both Froch and Khan appear to be chasing by fighting the best fighters out there. Opponent for opponent the likes of Kessler, Dirrell, Abraham, Pascal and Taylor (Froch's last 5 opponents) over shadow the opponents Haye has faced. In fact Khans opponents which include Marcos Maidana, Andriy Kotelnik and Paulie Malignaggi also seem to at least equal Haye's best wins.
The common problem with David Haye is that he runs his mouth but fails to back it up, he's called out the Klitschkos for over 2 years but is yet to face either of them, he was supposed to be the saviour of the Heavyweight division though has been unable to ignite the fire that the division so needed. His loud brash attitude seemed to appeal quickly to fans looking for a character to become the face of the Heavyweight division, the Americans were sold, the British were sold...and then Haye started to fight opponents that weren't worth watching. The Americans were quick to turn their back on Haye though the Brits have been slow to do so, with a few fans starting to turn away in recent months, mainly due to the Audley Harrison fight which was simple a cash spinning non entity.
Although the biggest problem with Haye has been his failure to face either of the Klitschko's, other complaints also exists with Haye. One being that he only fights old men, a bit of a reputation that seems deserved and one that seems as though it will grow unless he quickly faces either a Klitschko or a prime young pup form the heavyweight division. This isn't blind hatred or just trying to down play Hayes achievements but just stating the facts. Look at the table below to see what I mean: (Note Glenn Kelly was just 4 days short of turning 34 when he faced Haye)
David Haye's 34 year old or older opponents
Roger Bowden was 34 Haye was 22 difference 12 years
Vance Winn was 39 Haye was 22 difference 17 years
Greg Scott Briggs was 37 Haye was 22 difference 15 years
Arthur Williams was 39 Haye was 23 difference 16 years
Carl Thompson was 40 Haye was 23 difference 17 years
Garry Delaney was 34, Haye was 24 difference 10 years
Oleksandr Hurov was 34 Haye was 25 difference 9 years
Giacobbe Fragomeni was 36 Haye was 26 difference 10 years
Jean Marc Mormeck was 35 Haye was 27 difference 8 years
Monte Barrett was 37 Haye 28 difference 9 years
Nikolay Valuev was 36 29 difference 7 years
John Ruiz was 38 Haye was 29 difference 9 years
Audley Harrison was 39 Haye was 30 difference 9 years
Combined age of:
opponents: 478
Haye: 330
difference: 148
Average:
36.77
25.38
11.38
As you can see from the table Haye has fought much older opponents throughout his career. He has fought 26 times as a professional, and 13 of them were 34 or older. Other opponents, such as Arthur Williams and Tony Booth were 30 or older (and both of those were at least 10 years older than Haye himself). In total everyone of Hayes opponents was older than himself (Enzo Maccarinelli was the closest to Hayes age, just 2 months older). It's hard to be sure whether or not this was by design or not though it would seem an odd coincidence that Haye has never been the “senior” fighter in the ring.
As you can see most interestingly Haye has only ever defended against old heavyweights. Of his 3 Heavyweight title fights, his opponents have averaged 8.3 years older than Haye. Some people don't think that much of ages in boxing, but that's the same sort of difference as between Vitali Klitschko and Evander Holyfield, a fight that would see Klitschko thoroughly slated. Although it's often been joked by Haye haters (or “Hayeters” as some have dubbed them) that he'll end up facing Evander Holyfield next, it's not hard to see him facing Hasim Rahman next. Rahman is ranked #5 by the WBA and could well be the mandatory for Haye if the following takes place:
- Hayes team out bid Chagaev's team (Chagaev can't get a license to fight in Britain) for the mandatory
- Boystov remains injured
- Povetkin decides not to take the fight (he's also injured)
- Ustinov also decides not to take the fight
- Rahman takes the fight
Rahman is currently aged 38 and would seem the ideal age for a Haye opponent, would this situation be perfect for Haye? Maybe. His legacy seems to be one that's full of poor looking wins whilst talking a good game, what's one more poor looking win?
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