A fan query that puts David Haye and Anthony Joshua in a prime-for-prime matchup has been addressed by Carl Froch.
Haye defeated Jean Marc Mormeck and Enzo Maccarinelli in 2008 to gain the title of unified cruiserweight champion. In the same year, he made the jump up to heavyweight and won the WBA world title in his second bout, coming out on top against the enormous Nikolai Valuev.
Olympic gold medallist “AJ” defeated Charles Martin to win his first world title eight years later. He would go on to accumulate two more heavyweight titles, but Oleksandr Usyk would ultimately win them all in 2021.
At roughly four inches taller than Haye and thirty pounds heavier than him, the smaller man would be the underdog going into this particular Battle of Britain.
Speaking on Froch on Fighting, “The Cobra” projected a fantasy match between the two by referencing a common opponent in Wladimir Klitschko.
“AJ seems too large for him, but a prime David Haye exudes excellence. powerful, quick, and courageous as you please. It’s possible that he reached Anthony Joshua and began to catch him. However, AJ is a big lump, and if you look at what AJ did to Klitschko—yes, the 42-year-old was practically out of retirement after spending the previous eighteen months sitting on the couch—he still crushed him. In front of 79,000 spectators at Wembley Stadium, he climbed off the canvas to win.
After watching that match, you can see that Klitschko was simply too big for David Haye. Leaning on him, he suffocated him. Even while I believe David Haye could work magic on AJ, I just believe AJ defeats the Hayemaker because he is too large for him. That fight sounds like fun.
In 2011, Haye was unable to defeat Klitschko. The legendary Ukrainian fighter would lose by stoppage to Tyson Fury in 2015 and then to Joshua in 2017.
Joshua is stepping up his campaign to reclaim his titles while Haye is contentedly enjoying his retirement.
