Can David Haye Clean Up the Heavyweight Division?
July 10th, 2009
By William Mackay: Now that David Haye’s aching back has finally healed up, he’s ready to go forward against his next opponent which at his time appears to be World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko for later on this year. The fight will likely be taking place in Germany in one of the huge stadiums.
This is a lot different fighter compared to the other opponents that Haye has fought in his career. Haye has done well against cruiserweights where he was considered big for the division with his 6’3” height. However, for a heavyweight, Haye is actually on the small side and will have to depend more on using his wits and hand speed to avoid getting clubbed into submission by the much taller and heavier Vitali.
Haye will have an advantage of youth against Vitali, who will be turning 38 on July 19th. Since he doesn’t have the power, size or chin to compete with Vitali, Haye will have to be selective in the punches he lands to make sure that Vitali doesn’t clock him coming in or on the way out. If Haye makes the mistake of standing right in front of Vitali, then it probably will be a very quick fight for the big Ukrainian.
For convenience sake, let’s assume that Haye can get by Vitali Klitschko. This would mean that Haye would have to take on Vitali’s brother, Wladimir kitschko next. Depending on how well Wladimir’s chin holds up, this could be a very tough fight for Haye to come up with a good strategy to win. Wladimir is a lot faster than Vitali and doesn’t like to trade big shots as his older brother.
Wladimir won’t be taking any chances, especially if Haye beats his brother. It’s safe to say that Wladimir will focus on fighting on the outside and will try to avoid mixing it up with Haye as much as possible. Haye will be getting hit with jabs and will have to try and stun Wladimir with one of his leaping hooks or big right hands.
It’s not beyond the realm of possibilities that Haye can beat both Wladimir and Vitali, but it will be a long shot for sure. Depending on how the contract is written up, Haye might have to fight Vitali or Wladimir twice. However, if Haye is good enough to beat them once, I don’t see it as a problem for him to beat them a second time.
Once the Klitschko brothers are effectively out of the way, Haye would have to deal with Chris Arreola, fighters like Kevin Johnson or Odlanier Solis next. None of those fights would be an easy thing for Haye. David has already been stopped by Solis in the amateur ranks in 2001, and the Cuban appeared to have Haye’s number in that fight.
Unless Haye’s chin has improved in the past eight years, he will have problems with Solis. Arreola is vulnerable because of his chin. However, he has a lot of size and has a lot of heart to go with it. He got up off the deck to stop Travis Walker in 2008, and he’s got power along the same lines as the Klitschko brothers. This would be a fight in which Haye would have to box carefully to avoid Arreola’s huge shots. If Arreola connects with anything big, Haye would be out for the fight.
Tags: 25 Responses to “Can David Haye Clean Up the Heavyweight Division?”
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Haye vs the winner of the Johnson vs. Solis fight because Solis still has 1 win on you Haye.
Wow reading some of these articals makes you think that david haye is paying some of these people to make you believe he can fight. wlad has the numbers to prove what he’s got. so does vitali. david haye needs to gain some weight fight chris or somebody, he is going to take a serious whopping from vitali.
Aaron M? Haye just like every other boxer? has a big mouth but can’t back it up? are you for real? So all boxers have big mouths and can’t fight?
Also Haye has NEVER been KO’d… Thompson TKO’d Haye but it was due to Hayes exhaustion and inability to throw a punch back… he was on his feet when the fight was stopped.
Also in regards to the author of the article. Solis didn’t have Hayes number at all. Haye Hurt Solis badly in that fight and if it wasn’t for the silly standing 8 count rule in the Amateurs Haye would have more than likely stopped Solis… in Pro’s… with Solis being hugely overweight these days i see Haye demolishing him like he would have done if it wasn’t for the standing 8 count he got when Haye wobbled him. Haye was stopped through exhaustion more than Solis’s ability
Darren…. no, no ,no ,no ,no!
Wlad has a suspect chin and very little mobilty…. Haye has all the tools to KO Wlad… granted he can be KO’d by Wlad to but then so can any HW if Wlad unloads that right hand but Wlad very rarely unloads that right hand against static plodders so how often will he against a mobile and quality counter puncher like Haye?
Also whilst i agree Vitali is a much more dangerous prospect due to the fact he throws punches and has a solid chin… you are way off with your assumption. Vitali of today isn’t the same prime 31 year old Vitali that fought Lewis, He is now much slower with less than half the mobility he used to have after all of his injuries. Also it really, really annoys me when people say Vitali would have won if the fight went to points. 1: It didn’t go to points due to a LEGITIMATE TKO. 2: Vitali won the first 4 rounds and Lewis had won the previous 2 before the stoppage so was only 2 rounds down HALF WAY THROUGH THE FIGHT and had swung the fight into his favour as he had Vitali clinging on for dear life in the last round.
Haye has the ability to beat both Klitschkos and in my opinion KO’s Arreola in 1 round.
ko’d again,you want to clarify that aaron m
haye is just like every other boxer , got a good mouth put cant back it up , hes a bumb and needs to knock out (again) !!
plod!!! u are blade arnt u…. bloody fool!
no u are trying to provoke me, i do know about boxing and used to box mysef for 6years. im 32 and have bin watching prob b4 u were born!
if all ur gnna do is comment on other peeps comment dnt bother! ive nt read any word s of wisdom from urself…… u just log on and have a pop at other peeps views!
real nice wrk m8, real nice…….
the answer is NO!! he cannot save the div.
I JUST CANT UNDERSTAND HAYE ACTUALLY THINKING HE CAN WIN……THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING CONFIDENT….BUT HE HAS BASICALLY TALKING HIS WAY INTO A FIGHT WITH THE BEST 2 HEAVY WEIGHTS ON THE PLANET WELL 1…AND I JUST CANT SEE HOW HES THINKING YES THEY ARE NOT UN BEATABLE AND YES THEY CAN BE STOPPED BUT…LETS FACE IT HAYE IS NO!! LENNOX LEWIS AND LEWIS STRUGGLED WITH VITALI GREATLY AND IF IT WOULD HAVE GONE TO POINTS HED HAVE LOST…I JUST CANT SEE HAYE DOING IT I TRUELY CANT AND AS A TRUE BOXING FAN ID RATHER NOT SEE HIM EMBARASSED ITS NOT FAIR ON ANYONE TO EB EMBARASSED LIKE I FEAR HE WILL BE IM ENGLISH AND TRUELY HOPE HE WINS…BUT I JUST DONT SEE HOW HE CAN SPECIALLY NOT AGAISNT VITALI WLAD YES HE FIGHTS VERY EDGY AND ANXIOUS …BUT NOT VITALI…..
the best shot haye has to clean up,is scrubbing the arena mensroom after he gets out of the hospital
I agree to a certain extent. Its a big jump, and you have to be good to carry it off. But all this talk of Haye being a one dimensional banger, thats all very well and good, but this man was a world class amateur where being a banger isnt as much of an advantage to a fighter. Haye has good boxing ability, being stopped on your feet cos your too tired to punch back, doesnt mean you have a weak chin. Now while I dont think Haye has a chin of say, Toney, to me, in his career I havent thought of him as weak chinned. I must say however, Im more nervous for him fighting vitali than I was wlad. I thought he would beat Wlad, but im not so sure with vitali.
i remember the fight mate,he was blowing out of his ass after 2 rounds,he went down against monte barrett although it wasn’t counted as a knockdown.He prob not chinny but cruiser to heavy is the biggest jump up of them all,holyfield struggled with big men and who you think would win in their prime,evander or haye,i reckon holyfield in 6!!!
Haye got stopped by Solis, yeah. But for anyone who doesnt know, Haye was stopped because he was knackered, the same situation as with Thompson….weak chin or suspect stamina??
i would love to see haye pull it off but i just don’t see it,they are to big,to powerfull and hit to hard for someone who got stopped by carl thompson at cruiserweight.Has a better chance against wvladamir than vitali but i don’t see him getting past his jab and would probably run out of gas tryin.Has the power if he can catch him clean but doubt he will get close enough to land it
Haye will have to be careful, he’s capable but both brothers are big hitters and he is vunerable.
I think Haye is capable of beating both Klitchkos and clearning up the division. But then hes capable of doing that then gettin KO’d by a much lesser fighter.
Every fight hes in he will be a massive threat while at the same time always be vunrable to being finished. Hes an all or nothing type of fighter, he could lose a fight againt any of the top 10 heavweights as easily as he could win one.
if you believe any of the rubbish that gets written on this site haye should’nt bother to turn up to fight the klitchroid bro’s.i’ve said this so many times haye will come out throwing punches with bad intentions,unlike the rest of the pussies that have recently fought either brother!! sam peter,hasim rahman,changaev,the[black panther,should change too the black pussycat gomez],thompson,the list is long and every fighter mentioned and there are a few missed out didn’t put up a fight,they picked up a pay check and are a disgrace to boxing,win or lose haye will come to fight that’s why alot of people want to see him fight either bro coz they know it will be exciting,but then again i’m only stateing the obvious so the morons on this site might understand why the heavyweight division needs someone like haye!!
matt w- after reading ur comments bout froch and now these one about haye its become clear that u know fk all bout boxing
not trying to provoke i just wanted u to know
the first right hand from both klitschkos will put david in the hospital.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRrqMcK3jDQ
Hey Matt W and Jason… this site is about debating in a professional manner. If you lack the knowledge than don’t waste space with other comments that don’t mean nothing to boxing. Thanks!
blade m8, plz giv it a rest, u will disagree with everything i say no matter what it is! if i say hes black ul say no he ent hez white! it becoming tiresome. its just cuz u wanna row, or provoke a reaction from me! u are becoming very boring and this is the last time i will respond 2ur childish crap!
peace out bro
don’t hate him like you,you only like carl froch but agree about your outcome,oh.i still don’t like you!
oppps, i mean a left hand jabb! my mistake……
i think haye will get beat by any of the klitchko bro’s, i watched haye many times and seen him live twice now, he is much slower than he looks on TV and will get jabbed to death by either of them. hes got fake confidence, that is clear to c as he trys so hard 2unsettle the opponent! im english and feel like this……
he cant defend himself 4shit, his hands are so low man, he can be beat easily by a constant right hand jabb, nothing else is needed! the guy will fall like a sack of shit, massivly overrated haye is! he shud have stayed at cruiserweight, simple as! he thinks hes holyfield reborn, haha! the guys very dislikable and i hope he gets mashed up.