By Paul McCreath: On November 13, WBA heavyweight champion David Haye will finally get back into the ring again when he makes a voluntary defense of his title against fellow Brit Audley Harrison. For a fight that nearly everyone outside of the UK says they are not interested in there seems to be a lot being written and said about this match all over the world. Neither fighter seems to be all that popular but both seem to have loads of fans who want to see them lose,hopefully in a decisive manner.

When Audley Harrison first turned pro there were high hopes. Many Brits felt that he might become another Lennox Lewis. After all were both not Olympic champs? David Haye came from a fine amateur career which culminated in his winning a silver medal in the world championships.Both have seen their popularity wane since then but for different reasons. Audley started his pro career by signing that big TV deal with the BBC then proceeding to fight a bunch of very soft fights in spite of bragging initially that he would win the British title within 5 fights. David had good success at first as he earned recognition as a champion at cruiserweight but has been a big disappointment since moving up to heavyweight.He not only has been rather inactive but after much verbiage about how he would defeat both of the Klitschkos he has backed out of fights with them on three occasions now. The worst part is that he has met only old fighters past their best. Now that he has the freedom to choose any opponent he likes he is taking the softest bout he can with the un-ranked Harrison who is also old.

So much for the introduction. Now let’s look at what these men bring to the table and compare their strengths and weaknesses.

1. Age: Haye is 30 and Harrison 38. That should give David a big edge but since heavyweights tend to last into their late 30s these days it may not be too important.

2. Size: Harrison is the bigger. He will have at least a 30 pound advantage in weight and is about 3 inches taller.Advantage Audley but remember Haye has already defeated the much bigger Nicolai Valuev. Does it really matter?

3. Punching power: This one is hard to gauge.Harrison has shown fine power a couple of times against Danny Williams and Michael Sprott but does not land as consistently as Haye has done against generally higher level competition. Let’s give Audley the benefit of doubt and call this even.

4. Chin: Neither one has a cast iron jaw but I wouldn’t say they are chinny either.Both have been stopped once but what heavyweight hasn’t. Again call it even.

5. Stamina: Audley has looked gassed late in fights a few times. Other than the Carl Thompson fight early in his career Haye seems just fine. Advantage Haye.

6. Experience: In total fights Audley has had 32 while David has 25 but he has fought 4 world title matches, two of them at cruiserweight while Audley has yet to meet a high ranked fighter. Advantage Haye.

7. Quality of record: David lost only to Carl Thompson in his 11th pro fight when he ran out of gas. He was not knocked out. This was a similar result to what happened to Wlad Klitschko against Ross Puritty years ago. Neither fight means anything now. Young fighters often have to learn pacing.Harrison on the other hand has lost 4 fights. He was KO’d by Michael Sprott and outpointed by aging Danny Williams, fringe contender Dominick Guinn and Irish cab driver Martin Rogan. None of these men would be expected to give Haye much trouble. To be fair to Audley he did reverse the Sprott and Williams losses although he was behind on points in the last round against Sprott until he got the KO. Advantage Haye.

8. Hand speed and foot speed: David is definitely faster. Advantage Haye.

9. Will to win: Audley has frequently looked like he really doesn’t enjoy fighting , sometimes even when he wins. Haye has shown a great reluctance to get into the ring at times but once he does he usually gives it an all out effort.He was criticized for running against Valuev but he just did what he needed to do to win. In all other fights he has been reasonably aggressive. Advantage Haye.

10. Defense: Not much difference here. The level of competition makes it more difficult to judge this but slight edge to Haye.

Conclusion -This is a fight that Haye should win probably by middle round KO but since these are heavyweights don’t be too sure. Both can punch and both can be hit and hurt.If you like a long shot then Harrison might be a good play.He is a live underdog. This is after all his last chance.If he loses this one it is all over. His best chance is an early all out assault but this is something he has never done before. His hopes are slim.