David Haye Provides a Distraction for Fight Fans

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

By Troy Ondrizek - Without David Haye, we wouldn’t know nor care about the happenings in Nuremberg this on Saturday night. On the same night, HBO is offering up the sequel to Chad Dawson and Glencoffe Johnson’s thrilling fight, leaving the “other fight” vying for our attention. The “other fight” consist of former cruiserweight champion David Haye taking on perennial fringe contender Nikolai Valuev. [details]

[HeartAttack]

Haye is the only reason people are interested in this fight. Many want to see him knocked out for his actions. A minority wants to see if he can back up his big talk. And insiders want to see if his significant skill advantage over Valuev will hold up for 12 rounds. Haye SHOULD take this one with ease, but you never know what you get with Haye. Also, has David brought out a more focused Nikolai? Probably, but Haye's speed advantage should nullify Valuev's aggression.

[Tobi.G]

The fight generates much interest because almost every boxing fan wants to see Valuev lose, the best would be a knockout for Haye and his fame would increase drasticaly. It would make for much PR and everybody would want to see Haye vs. Klits and this fight would get incredible interest and tv quotes in europe and us as well. Would be the biggest HW fight since Lewis vs. Vitali

[Dave Rado]

By Troy Ondrizek - I’m not sure if I should be proud of this, but I can honestly say I stayed awake throughout the entire bout. I scored the fight 117-111 in favor of Holyfield and I was being extremely generous to Nikolai. [details]

Most people who watched the broadcast scored it to Holyfield, but almost every single boxing analyst who was ringside scored it to Valuev - including The Ring. I'm not sure what the reason was for the discrepancy between the ringside view and the view of the TV cameras, but it puts a big question mark in my mind about the TV version.

Also, that wasn't the normal Valuev: for whatever reason, he had an off night. Some think he was de-motivated by the fact that he didn't want to hurt an old man whom he admires. He protested strongly when his promoters told him to take the fight and only took it under protest.

[HeartAttack]

Most people who watched the broadcast scored it to Holyfield, but almost every single boxing analyst who was ringside scored it to Valuev - including The Ring. I'm not sure what the reason was for the discrepancy between the ringside view and the view of the TV cameras, but it puts a big question mark in my mind about the TV version.

Also, that wasn't the normal Valuev: for whatever reason, he had an off night. Some think he was de-motivated by the fact that he didn't want to hurt an old man whom he admires. He protested strongly when his promoters told him to take the fight and only took it under protest.

Dave in all due respect I NEVER read a single account that had Valuev winning the fight. Maybe I missed it, but I can't remember The Ring touching much on the fight and I would've remembered had they had it for valuev. My memory could be failing at the moment, but I seriously can't recall a single viable publication that had Valuev winning. Granted I wasn't big on the fight in the first place and was even more disappointed by the product that was on the screen.

[Dave Rado]

Dave in all due respect I NEVER read a single account that had Valuev winning the fight. Maybe I missed it, but I can't remember The Ring touching much on the fight and I would've remembered had they had it for valuev. My memory could be failing at the moment, but I seriously can't recall a single viable publication that had Valuev winning. Granted I wasn't big on the fight in the first place and was even more disappointed by the product that was on the screen.

I still have The Ring's fight report, and I assure you that they scored it to Valuev, and they specifically stated in the article that most of the other ringside analysts did too, while mentioning that most people who saw it on TV scored it to Holyfield. Gareth Davies of the Telegraph said something similar - see here.

[HeartAttack]

I still have The Ring's fight report, and I assure you that they scored it to Valuev, and they specifically stated in the article that most of the other ringside analysts did too, while mentioning that most people who saw it on TV scored it to Holyfield. Gareth Davies of the Telegraph said something similar - see here.

Never heard of Mr. Davies, but Graham Houston might be the only Brit I've read of late. So I still stand by my respected source statement. But damnit now I have to look through my old Ring's about a horrible fight. You and your memory Dave, I prefer mine.

[The Hammer]

Never heard of Mr. Davies, but Graham Houston might be the only Brit I've read of late. So I still stand by my respected source statement. But damnit now I have to look through my old Ring's about a horrible fight. You and your memory Dave, I prefer mine.

Dave Rado is correct in everything he posted above.

What created the controversy: the American commentator Al Bernstein, watching from a TV screen in the US, kept scoring all the rounds for Holyfield, and his docile play-by-play man Charles kept agreeing with him. They were both obviously rooting for Holyfield. The rounds were close, neither fighter did very much, and most were difficult to score. So it wasn't difficult for Bernstein and Charles to convince themselves - and the American viewers - that Holyfield had won.

No one would want to score the fight again with the commentary turned off, because it was such a boring fight!

I thought it was very close, but Valuev did just enough to retain his title. The truth is, it wasn't a robbery.

[HeartAttack]

Dave Rado is correct in everything he posted above.

What created the controversy: the American commentator Al Bernstein, watching from a TV screen in the US, kept scoring all the rounds for Holyfield, and his docile play-by-play man Charles kept agreeing with him. They were both obviously rooting for Holyfield. The rounds were close, neither fighter did very much, and most were difficult to score. So it wasn't difficult for Bernstein and Charles to convince themselves - and the American viewers - that Holyfield had won.

No one would want to score the fight again with the commentary turned off, because it was such a boring fight!

I thought it was very close, but Valuev did just enough to retain his title. The truth is, it wasn't a robbery.

I watched it with German commentating so Al Nick didn't influence how I watched or thought of the fight. Plus I'm educated enough to know how to watch a fight and what to look for. I watched the fight again, and I still feel the same. I however, don't have the experience of being ringside for it. So I can't dispute their views. I've been ringside for many fights and have thought only differently on one big fight than the masses, and that was Dawson/Johnson I. I had Chad up 7-5 with most in press row following suit.