I'm not sure what's worse. The fact that David Haye ripped off the British public on Saturday night, or the fact that we fell for his bollocks in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I'm not naive, I understand boxers build up fights to maximise viewing figures and line the pockets of themselves, the sponsors and TV rights holders. But in my mind, what took place on Saturday night was a clear example of a professional sportsman pulling the wool over the public's eyes and the “Hayemaker” walked away with a cool £15m for his trouble.
Haye blamed his woeful and quite frankly embarrassing performance on a broken toe. Well I'm sorry Mr Haye that’s just not fucking good enough.
Less than a week before the fight Haye told the world "I am in peak condition, really good shape. I look in the mirror and my body is unrecognisable to what it was six months ago"
In that case David Haye – you’re a fucking liar. People handed over their hard-earned money to watch you fight because they believed you were at the top of your game but, as you put it in the post fight press conference, "[My broken toe] didn't allow me to open up and throw big, powerful punches…I wasn't able to explode off my leg”
The viewing figures for the fight haven’t been released yet but however many poor bastards stumped up the £15 to watch the debacle – let alone the countless thousands who bet on the fight – they should all get their money back. Haye went into the fight knowing he couldn’t deliver what he promised but didn’t want to pull out and “disappoint the fans”. In going ahead he not only disappointed his fans, but he very probably lost a sizable proportion of them.
On the HBO promotional material for the fight the tag-line exclaimed "The Talk Ends Now". For David Haye, who after the clash still believed the bout had put “heavyweight boxing back on the map” the talk really should end now.
If he decides to continue he should keep his trap shut and let his boxing do the talking. That’s the only way he has any chance of winning back some of the respect he lost on Saturday along with his WBA heavyweight title.
Totally agree. Despite betting showing him as not being a favourite, the fact that a professional sportsman knows he is not at peak condition is bordering on fraud. Aside the £15m earned, how much did he place on himself to lose down the bookies? Is boxing going to have the same recent bad publicity as jockeys in horse racing or bowlers in cricket? Bad form!
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