Tweet
I think that Haye is trying so hard to piss Wlad off because he wants Wlad to come out swing for the early KO. He is always mega defensive and relies on the jab- never leaving himself open for too much.
If Wlad gets pissed and just wants to take Haye out, he will be swinging wide with hooks and what not, leaving opportunities for Haye to land some flush counter shots. It may not be a bad thing for Haye strategy-wise, we all know that Wlad has the power so thatis a factor regardless of whether he talked smack to him or not. It is getting Wlad to change his approach to the fight that may be the critical result of all the smack talk from Haye, just like Tarver getting into Jones' head as stated earlier.
It shows Wlad that Haye is not scared of him and he is much more vocal and "unruly" than most of his other opponents have been. I can see that Wlad is not accustomed to handling a person with that demeanor, similar to the way Ali would get under fighter's skin before his fights- the mental factor is probably much more important than the physical factor because you can be in the best shape of your life and still get crushed just because you weren't as confident as you should have been when it counted. It has to do something for you as a boxer when all of your opponents just sit by and let you be the center attraction and orchestrate every aspect of a fight and its preceedings; during press conferences, his opposition gives little if anything to be intimidated by and hardly makes a peep.
Haye is clearly defying Wlad's wishes for his conduct in public and wants to throw him into a rage so that he is careless and vulnerable....smart plan!
Comment