By Scott Gilfoid: When I look at the easy path that WBA heavyweight champion David Haye took in order to get a shot at the title and then look at which of the heavyweight champions Haye chose to fight, it makes me wonder about him. After moving up from the cruiserweight division in 2008, Haye has faced Monte Barrett, Nikolay Valuev and John Ruiz. Haye, instead of taking on the most dangerous of the heavyweight champions Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, Haye chose to fight the slow moving WBA heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev.

After barely beating Valuev by a 12 round majority decision, Haye then defended his WBA title against 38-year-old John Ruiz, who came into the fight last weekend having lost three out of his last six fights with his only three wins coming against 2nd tier opposition. But what would have happened if Haye, instead of facing the likes of Barrett, Valuev and Ruiz, Haye had to fight the following fighters before getting a chance at the heavyweight title: Odlanier Solis, Alexander Povetkin, Samuel Peter and Chris Arreola. Would Haye get by those heavyweights to get a shot at one of the Klitschko brothers? I hate to say it, but I think Haye would get beaten and probably by all four of them.

Haye vs. Peter: Of the four, I’d give Haye the best chance against Peter, but only because Haye would be running for his life the entire 12 rounds. I think it would be another Haye vs. Valuev fight with Haye averaging maybe 10 punches per round or less. I still don’t have a lot of confidence that Haye would be able to get by Peter, because now that Peter has gotten his way back down to a trim 240, he’s a totally different fighter compared to when he was carrying around the extra 10 to 20 pounds and fighting in the 250s. Peter does well against heavyweights that aren’t huge in size, and Haye, who’s possibly 6’3”, maybe 6’2”, wouldn’t have the size to keep Peter off of him. As such, I see Haye running all night long and throwing one punch at a time from the outside. I think Peter catch up to a tired Haye in the later rounds and bring back memories of Haye’s loss to Carl Thompson.

Haye vs. Arreola: This would be another fight where Haye would have to literally run for 12 rounds to keep the big 6’4” Arreola from connecting with one of his chopping right hands. Haye would do alright while his stamina is holding up in the first five rounds. However, once Haye starts tiring out by the 6th and 7th rounds, Arreola would start catching him against the ropes and battering him with power shots. Because of his lack of size, Haye wouldn’t be able to keep Arreola off him and he’d start to take punishment before long. I see this fight ending suddenly with Arreola landing a chopping right hand that puts Haye down for the count.

Haye vs. Povetkin: I think Povetkin would chop Haye up in two or three rounds with his rushing attack. Haye would try moving and pot shotting, but would get caught on the ropes by Povetkin and taken out with a flurry of punches. Povetkin is too busy, too strong and too sturdy for the Haye.

Haye vs.Solis: Haye already was stopped by the Cuban heavyweight back in his amateur days. Solis’ hand speed is too good and his power would present big problems for Haye. I think Haye would be able to last for a few rounds with Solis while he’s able to run from the Cuban. However, if Haye tries to slug with Solis like he did in the past, I see Solis clocking him again with a powerful right hand and left hook and taking Haye out on his back.