Who wins? Haye was the best cruiserweight of the decade, according to Ring. But there's not many as tough as Jirov, especially at cruiserweight where he belonged. Who do you pick to win this?
Agreed. Jirov liked to come forwards and he was pretty easy to hit. He was tough and if he got inside, he might do damage, but I just think Haye's right hand would land too often and crumble him eventually. Haye's right hand is phenomenal, even though the guy himself isn't
Jirov's best (if not only) chance would be to get Haye to punch himself out and ultimately win a war of attrition. A dangerous way to go about things, though, considering who he's doing it against. Have to agree with the class that it's the perfect matchup for Haye. I find it insane that The Ring voted him as the best CW of the decade, as his run consists of three notable wins (and one embarrassing loss, regardless of how green, yellow or pink he was at the time).
Also worth noting that Jirov's reign at Crusierweight ended a little time before the division got stretched to 200. I think the extra 10lbs favours Haye and is another factor among those already highlighted as to why he would probably win that contest. On The Ring's ranking of Haye at the decade's top CW....i think it says more about the state of the division in the noughties more than anything else. Haye won his big fights in style, and ended up vacating the belts and further validating his quality as a heavyweight.....If Monte Barrett knocked him out in a round, I'm not sure they rate him at 1. He rose to the top of the division very quickly, he was in a rush....which makes it all the more frustrating now as he seems intent on biding his time.
Actually, I thought CW was healthier than it had been in a long time. I can see it being tough to argue against Haye when he beat the guy who would otherwise be the logical pick, which would be Jean Marc Mormeck. It's funny how major writers/publications complain that people are too harsh on a fighter after a single loss, yet The Ring's ratings are strictly based on knee-jerk reactions (save for HOF-level fighters). But even taking into consideration their head-to-head match, I thought Mormeck was by far the more dominant CW of the decade. He avenged his only other loss in that time frame, and saw two separate reigns spread out over five years, though not the most active guy in the world. Still, had more notable wins than Haye and was a more dominant champ.
Forgetting accomplishments for a second, the best cruiser of the decade was probably Juan Carlos Gomez.
Yep ::... but just in terms of guys who were at the top of the cruiserweight heap at some point between 2000-2009, I'd say Gomez was probably the best fighter of the bunch.
