Just a quick addendum to Hellie's post about the Haye - Harrison fight yesterday. Most pundits reckon that the fight is going to be a fairly easy one for Haye - the bookies have him a 1-3 favourite to win by knockout, and 1-12 to win the fight in any method. It's also odds on to finish inside the distance, and there are no surprises there.
Another person who thinks it is likely to be one-sided is Haye himself, as you can see from the quotes below. Here's another, that didn't really emerge until the publication of the papers today however. Haye said to Audley: 'You're going to get violated... This fight is going to be as one-sided as gang rape.'
Unsurprisingly, the comments have been met with widespread condemnation.
In the heat of the moment, men in particular say a lot of things that aren’t met. While never being in the situation, I can imagine that to be particularly likely in a pre-fight press conference – two men are building themselves up to dislike the opponent, while controversial comments sell tickets, and in turn generate money. Therefore, odd as this may seem, I can understand why Haye said this. I cannot, however, condemn the fact that he has yet to apologise.
Rape of any kind is a heinous crime, and to liken a fight to it is quite frankly disgusting. For a man who sells himself as a genial fellow, and one who the British public in particular should like, his refusal to apologise is surprising. Controversy may generate publicity, but to this extent it is not needed. The fight will still go ahead, it will still cost fans €22 or so to watch it on TV, and I’m sure many will spend that... But I hope Haye sees the error of his ways sooner rather than later.
