David Haye is Fighting for the Hearts of Boxing Fans

[Dave Rado]

You can call nonsence everything i`ve writen, but that is just my opinion...

If Vitali had never got injured, if he'd remained champion, and had won all his fights (during the years when he was in fact retired) in reasonably entertaining fashion, he'd have had a hall of fame career and the Heavyweight division would still be fairly popular. If he'd also fought a reasonably high percentage of his fights in the States, the American public would have taken to him.

Wlad is a different matter, though. You're entitled to your opinion that his fight with Thompson was entertaining, but most people apart from his committed fans strongly disagree, except in the case of the eleventh round. Google the press reports of the time if you don't believe me - the following one is typical:

Thompson reached a point in the fight where he all but refused to let his hands go. But he wasn't running. He wasn't holding on for dear life any time Wladimir came within sneezing distance. He was there to be had, and he'd eventually get got.

But it wasn't before experiencing ten-plus rounds of a fight that had very little flow to it, but did have fans wondering why they were wasting their Saturday afternoon watching this when they could instead be out and about enjoying the weekend.

[Lacrimosa]

If Vitali had never got injured, if he'd remained champion, and had won all his fights (during the years when he was in fact retired) in reasonably entertaining fashion, he'd have had a hall of fame career and the Heavyweight division would still be fairly popular. If he'd also fought a reasonably high percentage of his fights in the States, the American public would have taken to him.

Wlad is a different matter, though. You're entitled to your opinion that his fight with Thompson was entertaining, but most people apart from his committed fans strongly disagree, except in the case of the eleventh round. Google the press reports of the time if you don't believe me - the following one is typical:

Thompson reached a point in the fight where he all but refused to let his hands go. But he wasn't running. He wasn't holding on for dear life any time Wladimir came within sneezing distance. He was there to be had, and he'd eventually get got.

But it wasn't before experiencing ten-plus rounds of a fight that had very little flow to it, but did have fans wondering why they were wasting their Saturday afternoon watching this when they could instead be out and about enjoying the weekend.

Dave, you do also have a right to have your opinion But i have never seen so many "if"s in your posts

There is no place for "if"s and "could"s in history... We can talk a lot about the injury in the Byrd fight, but as the time passes people will remember the TKO loss on his record... I can find numerous excuses for the Wlad losses, but who cares...

Yes, Vitali`s career could be much different... He could become a lineal champion... He could entertain crowd and bla, bla, bla... But he didn`t...

He came back out of his retirment, and God knows what for... He became three-time world champion, he might defeat two or three more opponents, but that`s it... He will retire soon for ever.... And we will have Wladimir left... Wladimir, who, in my opinion, is the only boxer right now, who can establish himself as the lineal champion. He can unify the division, he can get rid off numerous "titlists", who were humiliating this sport... One may say that his "boring" style harms the divison, but i think it is 4 Heavyweight champions, or 3 middleweight champions, or 4 leight-heavyweight champions, which harm the sport... People (not the fans of boxing) simply can`t understand, and i find it idiotic (and they won`t bother themselves with reasoning) when the sport has so many champions...

I was writing all of this with one purpose: to say that Wladimir is the one, who can unify the divison and become a lineal champion... Can anybody else do that? Haye? He is a Cruiserweight, and as much as like watching him fight, i doubt he can manage to improve his record to at least 30-3 if he stays at Heavyweights...

I think wee need Wladimir for couple more years, in which, hopefuly, another good champion rises...

P.S. as for that "report" - well, i don`t find it quite objective... The same as i don`t always listen to HBO comentators...

[Nuurzhaelan]

It's not about ethnicity or national background. For me and a lot of people it's about entertainment and sportsmanship. Haye is 100 pounds of ego in a soggy brown paper bag. Even if he gets lucky (and by my estimation that's all it would be) he will eventually be exposed in this division by a journeyman.

[F l i c k e r]

Awwww. David Haye really believes he is fighting for my heart?

[Dave Rado]

Dave, you do also have a right to have your opinion But i have never seen so many "if"s in your posts

There is no place for "if"s and "could"s in history... We can talk a lot about the injury in the Byrd fight, but as the time passes people will remember the TKO loss on his record... I can find numerous excuses for the Wlad losses, but who cares...

Yes, Vitali`s career could be much different... He could become a lineal champion... He could entertain crowd and bla, bla, bla... But he didn`t...

He came back out of his retirment, and God knows what for... He became three-time world champion, he might defeat two or three more opponents, but that`s it... He will retire soon for ever.... And we will have Wladimir left... Wladimir, who, in my opinion, is the only boxer right now, who can establish himself as the lineal champion. He can unify the division, he can get rid off numerous "titlists", who were humiliating this sport... One may say that his "boring" style harms the divison, but i think it is 4 Heavyweight champions, or 3 middleweight champions, or 4 leight-heavyweight champions, which harm the sport... People (not the fans of boxing) simply can`t understand, and i find it idiotic (and they won`t bother themselves with reasoning) when the sport has so many champions...

I was writing all of this with one purpose: to say that Wladimir is the one, who can unify the divison and become a lineal champion... Can anybody else do that? Haye? He is a Cruiserweight, and as much as like watching him fight, i doubt he can manage to improve his record to at least 30-3 if he stays at Heavyweights...

I think wee need Wladimir for couple more years, in which, hopefuly, another good champion rises...

P.S. as for that "report" - well, i don`t find it quite objective... The same as i don`t always listen to HBO comentators...

Yes, Wlad could unify the division and become a lineal champion if Vitali would only retire, and I agree that unifying the division would be good for boxing, but the Heavyweight division won't catch the public's imagination outside Germany and eastern Europe unless/until there is a champion who has a more exciting style than Wlad's safety first one.

My point about that press report wasn't that it was completely objective but that it accurately reflected the majority opinion of that fight - outside of Germany and eastern Europe, anyway. Google away if you're not convinced.

As for Haye, we'll have to wait until June 20 to find out whether or not you're right about him ... Wlad is rightly the big favourite, but upsets happen all the time, and I think Haye has a bigger chance of an upset than most of Wlad's fans believe - he isn't the bum they claim him to be.

[dmaclv]

It ain't Klitschkos fault for the lack of competition and I always gave that up to him even though I ain't a fan. But finally Wlad get's a guy who is respectable and is a damn good KO artist. A guy who he definitely will get respect for beatin...not a Thompson, Brock, or Rahman. David Haye was somethin Wlad never was and may never be....Ring Champion of a division. But Wlad goes and is a b.i.t.ch bout fightin him! Makin him sign some ridiculous rematch clauses and not lettin him in on some of the money made in Germany. That's when I lost all respect.