David Haye vs. Cristobal Arreola – Who Would Win?

By Boxing News - 11/30/2008 - Comments

Image: David Haye vs. Cristobal Arreola – Who Would Win?By Alan Thomson: The best American heavyweight versus the best British heavyweight. Two fighters who enter the ring with the same intentions – to seek and destroy.

What would make this fight so compelling is that both men have huge power and are not without their flaws. Apologies to my British friends but Haye can be a bit wild with his punches. And sorry my American compatriots but Arreola is defensively challenged. He is about as evasive as a lamppost. And raw power mixed with openings created by either wildness or lack of movement adds up to a knockout.

Both men have good boxing skills honed in notable amateur careers. Haye was a silver medalist at the World Amateur Boxing Championships in 2001 where, after giving Cuban legend Odlanier Solis a standing eight count, lost via third round TKO.

For those unfamiliar with Solis, he is an Olympic gold medalist and three-time world amateur champion who has never lost in any type of world tournament.

Arreola had an amateur career consisting of approximately 200 fights and won the U.S. National Golden Gloves tournament in 2001.

So who would win?

Arreola, despite the fact that he gets hit early and often, is like a freight train that never stops coming. He absorbs punishment and finds a way to dole it back out. But he’s never faced anyone with the combination of quickness and power that Haye possesses.

Haye has used his hand speed and sharp, powerful punching to knock out 21 of his 23 opponents. His lone loss was by TKO to 40-year old Carl Thompson as a Cruiserweight back in 2004. After unloading everything he had on Thompson’s head for nearly 5 rounds, Thompson turned the tide and began battering Haye, causing his corner to throw in the towel near the end of the round.

So the likely questions are would Arreola be able to withstand the quicker Haye’s assault until he could land meaningful punches of his own? And if and when he did, how would Haye react to them?

My feeling is that Haye would be just a bit too quick for Arreola to deal with. I can’t imagine this fight going the distance, so after dealing with some adversity of his own I think Haye would win by stoppage sometime in the middle rounds. But when two bombers like these step into the ring, anything could happen.

And I sure would like to see it if it does.



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