Comments Thread For: Haye versus Harrison: A-farcemaker or legitimate fight?

[Hard Boiled]

Its a good domestic fight, But Haye is a world class fighter above the British domestic scene, He should be fighting people like Eddie Chambers.

[Spray_resistant]

I am really hoping for the upset, Haye clearly never had any intent of fighting Wlad unless he somehow got 100% of the revenue for the fight.

[Dave Rado]

Wlad even rejected the offer of him keeping all the German money, and Haye keeping all the UK money, but surprise, surprise he said no. Why? Because he knows that Haye is a huge star in the UK and attracts a huge PPV audience, something Wlad can oinly dream of with his boring, robotic style.

You're being ridiculous. RTL is terrestrial like the BBC or ITV. He regularly gets TV audiences of more than 20 million, compared with the approx 1 million PPV audiences Haye has been getting. Wlad's live gates are normally around 20k, but for his last two fights have been around 50k, again, far more than Haye's live gates.

Because RTL isn't PPV, they possibly don't pay as much as Sky PPV. If Wlad prefers to have a 20 million TV audience and receive slightly less money, rather than a comparatively tiny audience and receive slightly more money, then he should be applauded for doing so. PPV is killing boxing, it's one of the main reasons the sport is no longer mainstream like it used to be.

In any case, you don't know whether or not RTL pays less than Sky. He may have turned it down for a completely different reason, because in his position I'd have turned it down. The reason I'd have turned it down is simply that Haye had already been offered a straight 50/50 deal and turned it down. He then had the outrageous cheek to ask Wlad to ditch his contract with RTL. And then on top of that, he then had the cheek to make Wlad an "alternative offer" to the straight 50/50 one that he'd turned down.

Now if I was the lineal Heavyweight champion with 10 successful defences behind me, all against top 10 opponents; and if I was confronted by such outrageous negotiating tactics by someone who has so far only fought one top 10 Heavyweight and who only sc****d a majority decision in that fight, I'd have told Haye to take his "alternative offer" and shove it where the sun don't shine.

[BetterCallSaul]

No, Haye admits he was offered half the German money. You should read his statement properly. He said his complaint is that Wlad should have ditched his contract with RTL in order to increase the size of the pot, because, he claims, there were other broadcasters willing to pay more than RTL. As I say, read his statement. He was offered 50/50 across the board.

Haye wanted 50-50 all over. Wlad didn't want that to happen. He had a multi-fight deal with RTL. Other companies were offering better money, Wlad wouldn't budge.

Haye offered another good alternative, Haye keeps 100% of the Sky money, and Wlad keeps 100% of the RTL money...everybody wins. Wlad refused.

Now why should Haye accept less money than what is being offered just because Wlad is tied to a contract? Wlad should have to budge to make room for Haye's entitlement.

[Dave Rado]

Its a good domestic fight, But Haye is a world class fighter above the British domestic scene, He should be fighting people like Eddie Chambers.

Chambers? Why don't you want him to fight Wlad Klitschko?

[Dave Rado]

Haye wanted 50-50 all over. Wlad didn't want that to happen. He had a multi-fight deal with RTL. Other companies were offering better money, Wlad wouldn't budge.

You're getting confused. Haye was offered 50-50 all over. He said no, because he didn't like Wlad's contract with RTL. He admits he was offered 50% of the total pot, he's just complaining that the size of the pot should have been bigger.

[Spray_resistant]

Haye wanted 50-50 all over. Wlad didn't want that to happen. He had a multi-fight deal with RTL. Other companies were offering better money, Wlad wouldn't budge.

Haye offered another good alternative, Haye keeps 100% of the Sky money, and Wlad keeps 100% of the RTL money...everybody wins. Wlad refused.

Now why should Haye accept less money than what is being offered just because Wlad is tied to a contract? Wlad should have to budge to make room for Haye's entitlement.

The HW champion known world wide should have to make all sorts of concessions for some largely unproven mouthy challenger who only has some local fanbase and is unknown outside of U.K

[BetterCallSaul]

You're getting confused. Haye was offered 50-50 all over. He said no, because he didn't like Wlad's contract with RTL. He admits he was offered 50% of the total pot, he's just complaining that the size of the pot should have been bigger.

The size of the pot should be bigger. It's not Haye's fault Wlad is tied into a piss poor TV contract. If Haye can make more money fighting Audley Harrison then good luck too him. I will be there at the M.E.N with my A-Force T-Shirt on.

[Clegg]

We don't know what really was offered in the Wlad-Haye negotiations.

What we do know is that Wlad tried to make the fight. When it didn't work out he tried to face the next best opponent. When that guy refused to fight him, he faced the next best guy, a boxer who, while not great, has knocked him down 3 times in the past. Haye chose to fight someone who lost to a cab driver not that long ago.

We also know that Haye kept his mouth shut until after Wlad and Vitali both signed to fight other people. Why not speak sooner? Actually, the only thing I remember Haye saying a few months ago when Wlad called him out is that he'd changed his mind and wanted to face Vitali instead of Wlad.

Haye is just playing the risk/reward game. The worst opponent realistically possible for the most money, while talking as if you want to face the best.

[Hard Boiled]

Chambers? Why don't you want him to fight Wlad Klitschko?

For the simple reason Haye has no intention of fighting Wlad nor is he ready to fight Vlad. He should fight Fast Eddie to gauge how close he is to Wlad level.

If Haye can get Eddie Chambers out of there sooner than Wlad then he can tell how well he compares to Wlad.