Vitali Klitschko: “I Will Knock Him [Haye] Out – I Am So Sorry”

By Aaron Klein: Shortly after watching David Haye stop Monte Barrett last Saturday night in the 5th round, former two-time heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (36-2, 35 KOs), according to the Southwork News, said “I will knock him [Haye] out – I am so sorry.”

Haye, 28, had been thinking of fighting Vitali’s younger brother, Wladimir Klitschko, the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion, but suddenly it was Vitali who showed up at the O2 Arena last Saturday night, standing next to Haye and telling him “you’re next,” after Vitali finishes with his mandatory title defense against his number #1 challenger for his WBC title Juan Carlos Gomez.

If Vitali defeats Gomez, then this would clear the path for a fight against Haye, if the British fighter doesn’t suddenly get cold feet and bow out of the fight, that is. While standing beside Haye, Vitali was on his best behavior, letting Haye bask in the glory of his victory over Barrett and not trying to steal his thunder by calling him out in an aggressive manner.

However, once the fight is signed with Haye, then there will likely be a quick transformation in Vitali and Haye will see his darker, meaner side.

It was thought by many boxing experts that the reason that Vitali is now being thrust forward as Haye’s next opponent rather than Wladimir, is that the 6’8” Vitali is noted for his strong chin, and can take a heck of a punch without going down.

Indeed, Vitali has never been knocked down before in a fight in his 38 fight professional career, and has been in with a number of big sluggers like Lennox Lewis, Corrie Sanders and Danny Williams. The thinking here is, if fighters with power like them can’t hurt Vitali, then a smaller former cruiserweight like Haye would equally have big problems in trying to stop him as well.

The logical wisdom would seem to suggest that Haye’s only real chance at beating Vitali is if he can somehow hurt him and take out with a big shot or two. Short of that, it would seem unlikely that Haye could beat him by a decision.

The reason for that is that Vitali, an excellent puncher/puncher, has only lost a handful of rounds in his entire career, and is very difficult to win rounds against because of his long reach, hard jab and powerful right hand shots. He’s very versatile, mixing up his punches well and hard to predict what he’ll be throwing at any given time other than his jab, which comes in at a fairly steady state.

He fights very sound and doesn’t take risky chances like the way Haye fights, in which he throws a lot of wild shots, leaving himself open much of the time. At 6’3” (probably closer to 6’2”), Haye would be giving up six inches in height and would have to throw a lot of lunging shots in order to have a chance at landing against the taller Vitali.

More than likely, Vitali would catch Haye sooner or later coming in and put him down with a big shot. Haye may get away with throwing wild punches for a round or two, but sooner or later, he’s going to get clipped while coming in and likely deposited on the canvas.