Photo: Pavel Terekhov – By Scott Gilfoid: Okay, we’ve seen how Chris Arreola did against WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko – getting stopped in the 10th in a one-sided fight from start to finish. How would British heavyweight David Haye have done against Vitali if it had been him in there with the big 6’8” giant rather than Arreola. Would there have been any improvement or would Haye have been knocked out much quicker? Perhaps there are a few people who think Haye could have actually beaten Klitschko with speed and power.

I’d like to think that Haye would have been at least able to stay upright through the 10th round, like Arreola did, but I’m not so certain that Haye could. I have these memories of Haye being dropped in the past as a cruiserweight by lesser punchers than Vitali and it leaves me to believe that Haye would be worked over in short order by Klitschko, maybe as early as the 2nd round.

Haye didn’t look good in his bout against Monte Barrett last year in November and got dropped in the 5th round by a left hand from Barrett. It was ruled a slip but a lot of people disagree with that ruling and saw Haye knocked down by the weak punching Barrett.

I know Haye wouldn’t make it easy for Vitali. Haye would likely be in high gear, running around the ring like a track star to avoid getting tagged. If Haye was able to stay on his feet by running for at five or six rounds, I can see Haye getting kind of brave. He is, after all, kind of cocky and I think his self confidence would lead him into making tactical errors in the fight.

Haye would likely try some in and out attacks to see if he could land quick combinations like he did in his fight against Enzo Maccarinelli last year. However, Vitali would quickly figure Haye out and time him as he comes in and blast him with a big shot.

I think Haye might be able to take a couple of the punches without flopping around on the canvas, but if Vitali landed just right, Haye would be down counting stars. Without a knockdown or knockout in the fight, it would be hard, if not impossible, for Haye to win it because he doesn’t really have any boxing skills to speak of. His whole thing is built around knocking people out.

Because of that, Haye’s work rate is always low as he loads up with everything and throws few punches. With power punchers like him, they can’t throw a lot of punches because they quickly tire and lose their power. As such, they tend to hold back with their shots until just the right moment and then they explode.

Haye could explode on Vitali, but his punches would likely do little damage. Haye would then be forced to flee or trade. I can’t see Haye trading with Vitali, so he’d have to use his legs to run around the ring. One thing about Haye, he doesn’t move very well laterally.

More than likely, Vitali would catch up to Haye in a round or two, tag him with a big right hand and knock him clean out. There would be little suspense in the fight because it would be over so quickly. Afterwards, there would likely be complaints made about how Haye not having been prepared for a fight of this magnitude given Haye’s little experience at the heavyweight level.