Haye - What does the future hold?

Adam Booth seems fairly adamant that Haye was beaten by the better fighter and also that Haye should retire by his 31st birthday. In his post fight interview he mentioned that this was the first fight that Haye stopped responding to Booth's instructions during a fight (I believe it was around round 6).

In his interview with Sky Sports he was already stating that his energies moving forward would be concentrated on George Groves.

In a way, I think Booth realises he has taken Haye as far as he can and that he will not be able to get Haye past the only real challenges left in front of him; namely Wladamir and Vitali.

So what does the future hold for Haye?

My take on this is that it can go in three directions:

1. Stay with Booth and forget the Klitschko's. Haye's natural ability and Booth's lack of confidence in Haye being able to execute Booth's tactical plans indicates that he should steer well clear of the brothers grim.

Instead I believe Haye should push for Bernard Hopkins to step up to heavyweight for a final fight in Vegas. Bernard has the pulling power to make this fight get the attention to sell it. It gives Haye a high profile name to go out on and it presents Bernard with a challenge, but one he will believe his technical ability will see him succeed through.

2. Move to the wildcard gym, team up with Freddie and Golden Boy and really put his heart and soul into correcting a massive blemish on his legacy by defeating a Klitschko.

Wladamir impressed me with his pre-fight conduct and backed up his talk about putting Haye's ego in check. Something Audley alluded before their fight, but sadly his lack of a fighters heart didn't allow him to follow through. One of the telling things Wladamir mentioned during the build up was that in boxing and in life, it only takes a single incident to destroy a lifetimes worth of reputation. Deep down I think Haye will want redemption.

I think Freddie could prove the deciding factor here. Absolutely key for Haye to defeat Wladamir is being effective on fighting on the inside. I believe Freddie has the experience to tweak Haye's style to cover this weakness in his offence skills.

3. Retire. His career earnings are circa £20m. He has proved himself to be a champion salesman, setting up the next few generations of his family with security.

As Marsellus Wallace said: ‘That's pride f’ing with you. F pride. Pride only hurts, it never helps’

These may be wise words for Haye right now.

Losing to Klitschko is not really a 'massive blemish on his record' when you consider he stepped up from Cruiser, and Wlad is a 6ft 7 giant that has dominated the heavy scene for years.

Other than that though, a good post.

Other than that though, a good post.

Apart from thinking BHop should come up 25lbs or so from LHW when Haye offers him no American PPV and a HW belt.

Beyond talking about Haye. Couldn't find a way past a punishing jab and the only accusation you can make is that he wasn't active enough. People seem more annoyed that they actually thought his words were literal and they feel all angry that they fell for his shoutings.

Sadly it was always a case of "has to get inside the jab" before he did anything, as a result he couldn't and it's nigh about time we forgot about it!

coxy0001 wrote:

Sadly it was always a case of "has to get inside the jab" before he did anything, as a result he couldn't and it's nigh about time we forgot about it!

In a nutshell.

Hopefully he'll struggle and retire, i have no time for a classless guy who wears t-shirts with severed heads, says he'll violate someone, put them in hospital, makes a sick video game with someones head coming off, says he wants to damage a fighter in later life, i'm funny like that. Never liked the guy, he's an arrogant foul mouthed over aggressive plonker who was totally outclassed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYnL5dZ2eBk&feature=player_embedded

Nice video from Wlad

Oh yeah, missed the Hopkins part, that's a total non-starter.

It is a massive belmish on his record, it is in reality the only fight he has had at Heavy, so to define his career, he needs to avenge that defeat, and he cant do that straight away and will need to delay his retirement.

My advice would be for him to retire, like he has always said he would on his 31st Birthday, so he either fights Vitali (very bad move IMO) or someone like Areloa, Povetkin etc, and goes out on a win!

Haye imo has domestic options only now, Haye is not on the same tier as these Ukranian guys. Haye was a great cruiser but that is history, he's a faker who sold his way into quite a few pounds on the back of lots of muck slinging hype and no substance....silly 15st HW needs to lower the tone ......he's does have loads of cash now, shame it was on the back of loads of Brit fans though.

I think he has still some good fights to offer if he wants to be a contender or feels like a rematch.

Unfortunately, the Klitschkos are just to good/big/dominant for them to be tested competitively before they retire - other than simply hanging around too long and becoming too old.

But outside that the scene could be competitive. I would like to see Haye in with Solis/Povetkin/Chambers/Adamek etc as I think they would be interesting fights.

Its certainly not a question of Haye being over the hill or washed up now. The problem is the situation is that none of the contenders have a hope of winning a title now so the motivation, especially for the beaten contenders, may not be there despite having the makings of a competitive division outside the Klitschkos.

What do people think of Robert Helanius as a possible future title challenger, anyone give him a chance?.

think haye needs to scrap retirement altogether or retire right now. theres no point in having one more fight to redem himself, as people will still remember him as the loud mouth blagger unless he beats one of the klit bro's, which i don't think he will do.

he could start over in the heavyweight divison take on the rest of the crowd (named above by manos), as well as the best of british ie price, chisora, fury- and build back up and challenge again, but if he isn't going to do that i dont think the public would pay to watch him beat a 2nd rate contender (who himself called bums) just so he can go out on a win.

I think he should go to Freddie Roach as mentioned above.

Freddie and co will have all the right "ingredients" to make Haye bigger.

Dass wrote:What do people think of Robert Helanius as a possible future title challenger, anyone give him a chance?.

Bermane Stiverne is my one to watch at the moment, i think he's actually WBC mandatory challenger (against vitali) at the moment, i wouldn't say he's ready for that but he does have a HUGE punch on him and can take one as well. he is getting better as well, and is under the eye of don king and lennox lewis (promoter and manager i think), don't know who trains him but expect him to do well with that kind of help.

he beat henanuis (and david price) in the amatuers, and won ray austin on his last outing.

my only hope is he doesnt get rushed in against the brothers grim before he's ready.

Hopkins was interested in fighting Haye a year or so ago but that was only because Haye held a belt. I can't see it happening now.

Personally, I feel Haye's best option would be to get back down to CW.
Fights against Cunningham, Huck, Lebedev, Green, Frenkal and Kayode would all be entertaining and winnable options.
If Haye cleans up the division again, it would restore his reputation amoung the average fan and also back up the belief that he was always a "natural Cruiserweight".

However, I feel he could end up retiring. Currently, the loss is still fresh in his mind and his ego his dented, but once the dust settles he may end up calling it a day.
I always felt his heart was never really committed to boxing. After all, he never fought reguarly, set up a fixed retirment date and constantly spoke of his future Hollywood aspirations. He trained as hard as he could for this fight and came up short, I'm not sure wheather he could find the motivation to do it all again.

i dont think going back down to cruiser weight is a good idea, haye would be dominant but he wouldnt get much credit for clearing out the division he already unified and there wouldnt be much interest in those fights either, there a still 4 or 5 good well paid fights to be had at heavyweight.

eddyfightfan wrote:i dont think going back down to cruiser weight is a good idea, haye would be dominant but he wouldnt get much credit for clearing out the division he already unified and there wouldnt be much interest in those fights either, there a still 4 or 5 good well paid fights to be had at heavyweight.

Realistically, another fight with a Klitschko is the only one at HW which will be lucrative for Haye. Even then, a re-match wouldnt make anywhere near as much money as it did the first time round. Haye doesnt have a belt anymore, will lose his PPV rights and won't have the support of the casual/footie fan.
Also, its unlikely that he'll be succesful either as his ambush style just doesnt seem to match up well against the cagey Wladimir.
At least at CW, Haye has the physical advantages over his opponents and will find it much easier to win the world titles and gain his popularity back.

he reputation has taken a brusing but think the heavyweight scene still would make him more money.

for me fights against solis, povetkin (if anybody can find him), adamek, helnius, stiverne, chisora, price, perez, chambers, arreloa and even tua or holyfield are all entertaining, and if he could take the best of the bunch from these i feel he would have re-earned at title shot.

The genius of PBF wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYnL5dZ2eBk&feature=player_embedded

Nice video from Wlad

Awesome video from Wlad.

What a character, and he was dubbed as boring and robotic beforehand!

Revenge is a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat....ch

How smart of him to rub it in - without saying a word!

Memo to haye - do your talking in the ring.

I'm guessing you think option 2, as it's a lot longer than the others? :-)

eddyfightfan wrote:he reputation has taken a brusing but think the heavyweight scene still would make him more money.

for me fights against solis, povetkin (if anybody can find him), adamek, helnius, stiverne, chisora, price, perez, chambers, arreloa and even tua or holyfield are all entertaining, and if he could take the best of the bunch from these i feel he would have re-earned at title shot.

Guys like Perez, Chisora and Helenius are probably looking for a title shot soon so I doubt they'd want to risk fighting Haye when they could instead fight someone inferior and gain a shot at K2 regardless.
Even if Haye beats a few contenders and earns a re-match with Wlad, the outcome will most proabably be the same.
I feel Haye would be better off in a division like CW which he can dominate.

Super D Boon wrote:I'm guessing you think option 2, as it's a lot longer than the others? :-)

You aint Sherlock by any chance are ya?

All this talk of cruiserweight! Haye had trouble getting down to the limit back in 2008 so can't see he'd be able to drain himself another three years on. Hopkins will lose all interest as there's no belt.

Haye won't go back down to fights against Fury or Chisora in Bethnal Green or something, too much of a dent to his massive ego and won't make the dollar against unheard of names like Solis and Adamek. Fights that will be tough and won't get him much dosh.

His only hope is that Vitali or Wlad takes pity on him and yields to his begging for a rematch. Can't see them being so charitable after the sh**e he's spouted!

Haye to retire after months of procrastination and telling people how good he was, one of the best British fighters of recent years, was a great cruiserweight champion, WBA Heavyweright champion etc etc.

i seem to remember haye saying something along the lines of.........

they make you sign a contract with rematch clauses in, why do we need that, the best man on the night will win, i dont want a rematch.

The genius of PBF wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYnL5dZ2eBk&feature=player_embedded

Nice video from Wlad

Wow. From severed heads to looking like he's giving head! And people say Wlad is boring! I echo other posters who think Haye still has more to offer the heavy weight division. I'd like to see him join Golden boy and come back stronger. No point staying with a trainer who has no belief in you.

I've thought for a long time that Roach would be ideal to give Haye a new edge.

Particularly as he has trained Wladimir. He reads a fight very well and could have helped Haye. As much as I think Booth is good for Haye on a motivational level he was out of his depth in a fight of this magnitude. Particularly with Stewart in the opposite corner (the trainer of champions).

JACKMAGIC wrote:

The genius of PBF wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYnL5dZ2eBk&feature=player_embedded

Nice video from Wlad

Wow. From severed heads to looking like he's giving head! And people say Wlad is boring! I echo other posters who think Haye still has more to offer the heavy weight division. I'd like to see him join Golden boy and come back stronger. No point staying with a trainer who has no belief in you.

This was a great video from Wlad in fairness. Lovely touch that he said nothing. May not be the most entertaining but you can't deny the man's class.

If Adam Booth doesn't believe Haye has what it takes to beat either Klitschko then Haye should beat a top contender and retire.

Adam Booth knows David Haye better than anyone so he should be in the best place to judge.

The genius of PBF wrote:If Adam Booth doesn't believe Haye has what it takes to beat either Klitschko then Haye should beat a top contender and retire.

Adam Booth knows David Haye better than anyone so he should be in the best place to judge.

That is true to a point, or another way to look at it would be that Haye has got as good as he can with Booth, regardless of what we all think of his recent performance, that's still pretty damn good. A new trainer may be able to offer more and give Haye new skills or a different fighting perspective.
I personally believe Haye is a natural fighter and has amazing ring craft. Roach could add that extra dimension to take Haye to the next level.

By the way, I didn't mean for my previous comment to sound like I was mocking Wlad - the video is great and I must admit I have warmed to the Ukranian over the last month.