By Dave Lahr: On June 20th, former cruiserweight champion David Haye (22-1, 21 KOs) is going to be trying to set the wheels in motion by defeating IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (52-3, 46 KOs) so that Haye can get a shot at Wladimir’s brother, WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. Due to the tough negotiating tactics by the Klitschko brothers, Haye finds himself in a contract where if he beats Wladimir on June 20th, Haye would still have to beat the Klitschko brothers two more times before Haye can escape with the belt and move onto other defense of his title.
It won’t be easy, though, no matter how hard Haye can punch. Both Wladimir and Vitali punch equally hard, but what gives them the advantage in this case is their much bigger size (6’6” for Wladimir and 6’7” for Vitali) in contrast to the 6’3” (some say Haye is only 6’2”) Haye.
Haye will have to find a way to get inside all that reach that both of the Klitschko brothers possess, and that won’t be easy. Both Klitschko brothers like to fight on the outside where they jab and pound away at their opponents with powerful left hooks and right hands.
In the case of Wladimir, when his opponents get too close to him, he either steps away from them, often throwing a left hook in retreat, or he grabs them in a clinch. It’s not easy to get near Wladimir in the first place, often making it necessary for his opponent to eat a lot of jabs, left hooks and right hands on the way in. But after all that hard work by his opponents, Wladimir often foils their attempts to land by grabbing them in a clinch.
The pattern then repeats itself after the referee separates Wladimir from his frustrated opponent. For Haye, it makes it means that he’s going to have to put everything that he has in his shots and try to score a knockout in the few chances that he gets to land a big shot against Wladimir.
Many people are saying that if Haye has any chance at stopping Wladimir, it will be by the 3rd round. After that, Haye’s chances would appear to decline as the rounds go by due to the accumulated punishment that Haye will be absorbing from eating Wladimir’s power jabs.
Haye hasn’t been hit by a punch like that before, but he no doubt is going to be well acquainted with it if the fight goes much beyond the 3rd round. Against shorter fighters like Haye, Wladimir often doesn’t need more than his jab to beat them.
Wladimir often doesn’t throw more than a handful of right hands in the early going, using primarily his jab to punishment his opponents, softening them up for his big right and left hooks to come later. But if Haye can get to Wladimir, whether early or late, Haye can definitely end matters if he connects with a big enough shot.
However, Vitali would be a much tougher fight for Haye, and one that he may not have the tools to win. Vitali isn’t easy to hit with a right hand, because he often leans away from the shots. Vitali uses his jab, left hook and right hand as a wrecking ball to break down and ruin his opponents over a matter of rounds.
Haye may get some chances to land, but Vitali won’t be going anywhere from Haye’s punches. In the meantime, Vitali will be using his jabs and left hooks to score points. I don’t imagine that Haye will make it beyond the 5th unless he absolutely runs from Vitali the whole time.
Vitali is capable of hurting Haye with a glancing blow and once he has him hurt, Vitali is a good finisher and not afraid to get in close to put in the finishing touches on Haye.
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