• Boxing

Haye 'horrible' against Wlad - Don King

ESPN staff
August 20, 2011
David Haye was outclassed by Wladimir Klitschko, losing a unanimous points decision © PA Photos
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Legendary promoter Don King has delivered a brutal assessment of David Haye's performance against Wladimir Klitschko in their July heavyweight showdown.

Haye promised to inflict all manner of punishment on Klitschko when the pair met in Hamburg, but he turned in an underwhelming performance, losing a unanimous points decision.

And King, who who guided Mike Tyson to becoming the youngest heavyweight champion of all time in 1986, was far from impressed with the Brit's performance on his way to surrendering the WBA heavyweight title.

"The Klitschkos, who are good big men, are more champions of Germany than of the world and your David Haye was a horrible disappointment against Wladimir," King said in the Daily Mail.

"Haye would never have fought that feebly if he had been with me. He had the charisma and style to revive heavyweight boxing but, in a stadium full of Germans, he became one of many fighters I've known who were afraid to hit the white man.

"The least he could have done was go down fighting. I don't think his confidence can ever recover from what happened, certainly not with his current crew around him."

Haye is still scheduled to retire from the sport before October 13, when he turns 31, but is yet to confirm if or when he will fight again before that date.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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