The all-British Heavyweight boxing clash between Tyson Fury and David Haye originally scheduled for September 28th has been postponed until February of 2014. Both fighters have reputations as trash talkers, and Haye pulling out of the fight with less than two weeks to go due to a cut will surely add fuel to Tyson Fury’s fire. Fury has in fact already started, stating he believes Haye wont make a February date either. Before the fight was pulled, the line saw Haye a solid favorite (-340) over Fury who was returning (+280). Assuming the fight goes down as planned in February, the line and the skinny on the fight should be pretty much the same. Haye has experience over Fury, who is raw and has been criticized for taking this fight too early in his career. Haye had an extensive amateur career, and he has the experience of facing tall fighters like Valuev and Klitschko and far better competition overall than Fury. Haye fought Odlanier Solis as an amateur, while Fury has no amateur background to speak of. Fury is tall and has a big punch, but he has looked awkward at times in the ring (who can forget the famous internet video of him uppercutting himself in a live boxing match?) and he will be at a big disadvantage when it comes to speed in this bout. Haye has only fought twice in the last two years, and that layoff will be longer in February. Still, his last outing saw him earn a win in another all British grudge match over Derrick Chisora in the fallout of his loss to Klitschko. Ring rust may be a factor, but Haye is still just 32 years old and is more than likely in his prime. As far as common opponents, Haye stopped Chisora in 5, while Fury went the distance in earning a unanimous decision. Fury has been very active, but in his last outing in April of 2013, he looked unimpressive in beating journeyman Steve Cunningham in his debut on American soil. Furthermore, his mouth did not endear him to anyone this side of the pond. Fury may try to use his jab and reach to keep Haye at bay. Haye has to avoid the one big punch from Fury, but with Fury’s size and awkwardness, he should see the punches coming. More than likely, we will see Fury missing all night long. Fury’s fans (and there are a lot of them) may find value in their guy as an underdog, however many of them believe the hype around Fury while refusing to recognize that David Haye is just a better fighter in every aspect of the game. Fury returned to England earlier this week after spending his training camp in Belgium, and he is talking about having a new bag of tricks for Haye. There is no training regimen known to man that could change Fury’s game in eight weeks, but he now has until February to hone his skills. To his credit, Fury is looking to take a tune-up fight in between to stay active.
