By Eric Thomas: Former David Haye conqueror Carl Thompson (34-6, 25 KOs) feels that that Haye may be too small to defeat International Boxing Federation/World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (52-3, 46 KOs) on June 20th in their title bout in Germany, according to an article in the Manchester Evening News.
Thompson should know more than anybody how good Haye is since he stopped David in the 5th round in their title bout five years ago in 2004 after waiting Haye out for four rounds and then coming on with the heavy artillery in the 5th to first drop Haye and then force the stoppage.
Thompson feels that Haye “took too many short cuts” in moving up to the heavyweight division and jumping in line in front of other top heavyweights without working his way into the fight. Although Thompson gives Haye an even chance at beating Wladimir, he thinks that the fight could ultimately be determined by Wladimir’s much bigger height, weight and reach in comparison to the shorter 6’3” Haye.
“I think Klitschko will keep him [Haye] off and David will be surprised at how awkward it is to get near the man [Klitschko] and land his punches,” Thompson said. This is pretty much what many boxing experts are saying about Haye’s problems in this fight. Wladimir often controls his shorter opponents from the outside, using his jab as a spear to stab his opponents and keep them helpless to land their shots.
It’s taken a rare type of fighter that can land their shots against Klitschko. Of Wladimir’s three losses, only one of them – Corrie Sanders – was able to get in fast and stop Wladimir without taking a lot of hard head shots first in their fight six years ago in 2003.
Sanders, however, was tall at 6’4” and was fighting a very different fighter than what exists today. Since that time, Wladimir has changed trainers adding Emanuel Steward and has learned how to use his height much better than he did early in his career.
Thompson sees the jump from the cruiserweight to heavyweight will possibly be a problem for Haye as Wladimir, and some of the other heavyweights like his brother Vitali Klitschko, are far bigger than what Haye has been facing as a cruiserweight.
Thompson thinks that Haye has the ability to surprise some people and get the win, but he feels that he has to choose Wladimir over Haye in this fight. Thompson believes that Haye needed more experience under his belt before taking on a fighter like Klitschko.
Thompson then went on to point out how “easy” it was for him to overcome and “break him [Haye] down” in their 2004 fight. Haye started out strong in that fight throwing massive amounts of power shots in the first four rounds, but when Thompson didn’t go down, Haye had no answers when Thompson began unloading with his own bombs in the 5th round and quickly folded in the round.
Interestingly enough, this was then only round in which Thompson really let his hands go with any regularity, yet he had Haye in trouble almost immediately in the round once Thompson started punching.
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