Comments Thread For: Lennox Lewis Says Haye Should Focus on Speed, Not More Mass

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

Lennox Lewis has questioned David Haye's new-look physique, believing his bigger build risks undermining the speed that was his greatest strength. On Saturday Haye faces the little-known Arnold Gjergjaj at London's O2 Arena, the second fight of a comeback that began in January with a first-round stoppage of Mark de Mori for which he weighed 16st 3lbs 5oz - the heaviest of his career.
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[juggernaut666]

Enough speed and more size ranks over being faster if one still carries the weight well which Haye does .Did Lewis forget he was more effective naear 250 than he was at near 230? At 6'3 about 230 is where he needs to be ,just look at the top 100 HW's ,maybe about 3 guys are near 220 pounds ,like it or not the extra weight in todays Super HW era come into play thats why Wilder is 235 now .Unless Mike Tyson from the 1980's makes an appearance and travels to this future its not smart to utilise more mass if you can carry it ,Haye at 210/220 would simply be to light to take aHW champion belt . He looked like a much better and stronger puncher in his last fight than at any time ,thats what will win him fights against the giants not running /ducking around the ring ,he will be able to stand his ground better with more weight and timed punches could negate speed ,hes still very fast at 230.

[Weltschmerz]

It's only natural for him to add some weight now he's mid 30s in age, at HW.. we will need to see him vs some top opposition though to judge pros and cons. He looked fast enough vs that previous opponent but again, that opposition was subpar. Briggs is a joke and will get KOed by Haye possibly.

[- Ram Raid -]

Lennox's comments are often so contradictory that they become meaningless.

Haye's targeting super heavyweights. He's already fought one of the bunch before and was found wanting, and that was closer to his prime and pre injury. Its clear he needs to change his approach. He couldn't outbox Klitschko or Fury and both Wilder and Joshua are too dangerous for a man of his size to go 12 rounds with.

He'd be looking for a knockout in all those bouts. Plus, no sensible man of 35 should be basing his game around speed.

[Tom Cruise]

I dont mind it because it suggests Haye is looking to calm his feet down and fight with more control than he has in the past.

The speed will still be there, at least enough for most HW's

[deathofaclown]

He's probably slowed down anyway, he's mid 30's now and is only going to get slower. Im sure he still carries more speed than most of todays heavyweights though.

Haye has plenty of good attributes, he's just small for a current heavyweight, i'm sure he's experienced and smart enough to add some size without completely compromising what he already does well...and again, he's 35 now coming off a long layoff, not a man in his late 20's moving up from Cruiserweight, he's going to be naturally more filled out anyway now.

I don't think it's a case of purposely trying to be bigger, it's probably a case of accepting his age and size and realising losing too much weight now will probably hurt him more than benefiting him.

[hugh grant]

Yes don't need mass he hits hard enough. Why change if it ain't broke?

[Kris Silver]

Lennox isn't so definitive as the title suggests, he also says it could be the right direction but has his doubts.

Haye apparently got upto 235 once and he just seemed to keep shredding at least 10 lbs in the lead up to fights.

He was 222 against Ruiz, next fight he shrunk to 210 against Audley. He'd have weighed 210 in fight for his cruiserweight fights. Now that's a worry. You can't be a CW size against all big HW's and not accept it brings risk in itself.

He was 227 in his last outing, only a few lbs more than against Ruiz 6 years earlier. That kinda small gain is largely natural given age.

[SthPaw]

Gaining weight would make sense if he intended it or not in my opinion. We all tend to get heavier as we age. He is right though, Haye's most threatening attribute was his speed. Generally speaking for a HW to have power worth raving about they need to have that Tyson-esque feel to them. Other than that, any man weighing in that heavy and knowing how to fight with that weight will have the right amount of power to make an impression during a fight, so maybe Lewis is right about Haye possibly doing himself an injustice by not focusing on speed too much. Who knows.

[sterling]

Lennox's comments are often so contradictory that they become meaningless.

Haye's targeting super heavyweights. He's already fought one of the bunch before and was found wanting, and that was closer to his prime and pre injury. Its clear he needs to change his approach. He couldn't outbox Klitschko or Fury and both Wilder and Joshua are too dangerous for a man of his size to go 12 rounds with.

He'd be looking for a knockout in all those bouts. Plus, no sensible man of 35 should be basing his game around speed.

i agree with this post. He was trying to pot shot klitschko and try to outbox him lol totally wrong game plan. So i agree with trying something new and his speed would of naturally slowed down anyway due to age.