Will Haye avoid the Klitschko brothers?
November 21st, 2009
By Chris Williams: After David Haye captured the World Boxing Association heavyweight title with a narrow win over Nikolay Valuev on November 7th, Haye made mention of wanting to fight one of the Klitschko brothers, saying he didn’t care which one it was as long as he was fighting one of the Klitschko brothers in a unification bout.
Additionally, Haye has to fight a rematch with the 36-year-old Valuev, as he had a rematch clause in his contract. The way things look now, Haye may not get around to fighting the Klitschko brothers at all in the near future, if at all.
So will Haye choose to mile his WBA title and try to string it out as long as he possibly can by defending it against more beatable heavyweights rather than taking a big gamble and shooting for a fight against one of the Klitschko brothers? It’s hard to blame Haye if he did avoid the Klitschko brothers, because he doesn’t match up well with either of them. No doubt Haye has a lot of power, fast hands and an ability to end a fight with a single punch.
But Haye doesn’t have the reach or the jab needed to land shots if the Klitschko brothers decide to play it safe and jab him into submission from the outside. More than that, Haye doesn’t appear to have the work rate needed to beat the Klitschko brothers.
I’ve heard it mentioned by a number of writers and I took a look at several of Haye’s last fights and it’s pretty clear that Haye doesn’t throw a lot of punches compared to other top flight heavyweights, in particular the Klitschko brothers. If Haye were to fight them, Haye wouldn’t be able to win if he’s getting out-punched approximately eight to one.
Haye’s punches may be hard, but the Klitschko brothers punch every bit as hard as Haye, only with a better work rate. This is why I can imagine that Haye might decide to play it safe and defend his WBA title against the likes of Ruiz, Valuev, Adamek and possibly Bernard Hopkins before he even considers facing one of the Klitschko brothers.
I do think Haye will fight one of them, but only after Haye has exhausted all the winnable decent money fights he can before he faces a risky fight against one of them. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer has talked about a Klitschko-Haye bout being a huge money maker and I would agree with that. However, it’s not going to be the big money maker that Schaefer thinks it will be until Haye gets some more fights under his belt as a heavyweight and has more visibility in the United States.
Tags: 15 Responses to “Will Haye avoid the Klitschko brothers?”
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Last news. Vitali Klitschko will be fighting Valuev in order to force a fight with Haye as soon as possible. If Klitschko beats Valuev, Haye will have no way to avoid a fight with V Klitschko. Let us see what will happen.
I AGREE WITH SHANE HOLMES. WLADAMIR KLITCHKO WILL GIVE HAYE A PIZZA FACE FIRST, THEN HE WILL KNOCK HIM OUT IN THE 12TH ROUND.
i think haye will knock out wald.. but will lose to vitali. if big lenox cant knock him out i cant see david
Considering he was brawling with Vitali out the ring for no money, I doubt he’s avoiding a mega money making fight with them in the ring!
Haye would be smart to stay away from both brother’s either one would knock him out without breaking a sweat. Haye does have a bigger mouth and talks trash like the getto fighter’s from the U.S. He would beat Ruiz because he is a washed up bum whose punch wouldnt break eggs…..
valuev is just a giant no skill at all easy win.. if he wants to test himself how about tua or arreola they are worthy of a title shot.. the klitckkos will demolish haye… there tall and excellent boxers… haye would not even get close .. to unload a power punch..
Honestly David Haye is over hyped he is a okay fighter but boxer he aint a boxer compared to the Klitschko and and its obvious hes never gonna fight the KlitsckO’s
I’m no fan of David Haye. But I do think he’ll fight one of the K bros at some point. He choked both times before. But in a way, it was smart of him and his team to duck out against those guys. Beating valuev was huge for him, and given the fact that there was the WBC strap at stake, it was actually a stroke of genius that his handlers were able to pull him out of the Vitali fight anf get him in there with someone he had a good chance to beat. I think Arreola’s people and Calvin Brock’s people should have ducked the Klitschkos too. They could have beaten other top heavyweights, even possibly capturing a belt, which would have brought more money and bargaining power to an eventual bout with Wlad or Vitali. That said, if Haye does ever get in the ring with either of them, he’ll get exposed. It will be ugly. Both bros are all wrong for him. People talk about how they fight cautious, behind the jab, etc. It’s true. But all that really means is that they’re great heavyweights. I’d match up either K bro with ANY previous heavyweight champ and give them a solid chance of winning. And either bro will easily control Haye from the outside, and end it with a big bomb or two by the mid rounds. It ain’t rocket science.
Nikolay Valuev avoided the brothers his whole reign as WBA champion.
David Haye will probably do the same.
No chance ….he will take the chance. Hes in his glory right now and he wont take the chance of loosing his belt. Hes called out the K brothers before. Its nothing knew. Hayes is big mouth. In the end, just like before, he wont fight either of them (that is, if he is smart)
I think that Haye will only be fighting one of the Klitschkos. I hope he fights Vitali in april or may. I will gladly pay the ppv cost to see what Haye brings to the ring.
Haye will fight the Klitschkos but now it has the money and the break he wanted and I can see Haye having 2-3 more fights before even facing the brothers
I see Chris is deleting comments again even though i never said anything out of order. Oh wait yes i did i didnt agree with everything he said.
Even if you dont believe Haye is good enough for a Klitchko its very clear Haye believes he can. He doesnt personally want the Klitchkos he wants thier belts and he is in no way looking to avoid them.
good article, but i think haye will go after vitali , the somewhat stronger of the two. i can also see haye hurting him, which will give him a better chance than most would think
I think it would be wise to get more experience in the heavyweight division before agreeing to a fight with one of the Klitschko brothers. He’s just captured a championship & is on top of the world right now, so any talk about going after the best in the division is just adrenalin & the excitment of the moment for him. Bedides, with his mandatory title defenses the Kiltschkos will have to wait anyway, thus giving Haye said experience, & better preparing him. So it’ll work out in the end, & I think that once this fight does happen, it’ll be an exciting match. I know I cant wait to see it.