Chagaev Looked Good Enough To Beat Haye

Chagaev Looked Good Enough To Beat Haye By Chris Williams: While Ruslan Chagaev (25-1-1, 17 KOs) may not have landed too many punches on Saturday night against Wladimir Klitschko, I saw enough of Chagaev to get the impression that he looked more than good enough to beat British heavyweight David Haye. Chagaev showed a great chin, an excellent ability to block punches against the towering 6′7″ Klitschko. The knockdown that occurred in the 2nd round, after Wladimir dropped Chagaev with a huge right hand, I think that punch would have left Haye in a coma and would have forced him to be taken out of the ring on a stretcher. Had that been Haye in there with Wladimir, I doubt that Haye would have made it beyond the 2nd. If Haye did get past the 2nd, each round in which Wladimir landed a big right hand, which was every round as it turned out, would have seen Haye getting dropped for the count. Chagaev should get a lot of credit because the shots that he took were monstrous and he never showed any sign of being hurt in the fight, not even when he was knocked down or when the fight was stopped after the 9th round. Haye, 28, would have been in serious trouble if that had been him in with Chagaev. Haye wouldn’t have had a jab to hold Chagaev on the outside like Wladimir was able to do, and would have to stand and trade with him on the inside. Haye punches hard, but his shots would have had no effect on Chagaev and he would have found himself in a grueling bout where he’s absorbing huge punishment from Chagaev. Now I know that Haye doesn’t want to fight another opponent before he gets a jackpot fight against Vitali, but I think Haye really owes it to himself and to boxing for him to actually give a shred of evidence that he belongs in the same ring with a champion like Vitali. At least Haye would get more credibility as a heavyweight that showed that he deserves the title shot rather than getting one awarded to him because of his ability to trash talk better than other fighters. The difference here is that Haye is listened to because he proved that he was better than the subpar opposition in the cruiserweight division when he was fighting. Immediately upon Haye leaving the cruiserweights, the division got a whole lot better to the point where I don’t think it would Haye would be capable of capturing any of the four titles. Chagaev may have lost badly to Wladimir, but he showed a lot of skills in that fight and I think he would be a nightmare for Haye. Right now, Haye needs a tune-up bout because he’s been out of the ring since November, seven long months ago. Haye may want a fight with Vitali in September, but David needs at least one tune-up before then. If not for Chagaev’s cut that he suffered in his fight with Wladimir, I think Chagaev would be the perfect opponent for Haye to prove himself against and show that he deserves to be in the same arena as Vitali. As of now, I don’t feel that Haye does and think he shouldn’t even be considered by Vitali until Haye at least beats two or three top 10 opponents.