By Ricky Hale: As somebody who does a little boxing myself I hope I understand this noble art a little better that your average arm chair fan and hopefully I can offer some perspective! First up Audley Harrison versus David Haye. I’m probably one of the few people in the world who actually likes both fighters and appreciate the different skills that they offer. Audley Harrison is a guy with undoubted ability he has the size and reach as well as decent hand speed and power. A lot of writers have questioned Harrison’s chin, however I do not think this is a major problem – the man has only been knocked out once and that was by a tremendous shot which would have floored most fighters.

I believe Audley’s big weakness has been his stamina. Being a big guy he knows he is likely to tire and struggle later in fights, so he tries to pace himself and look for one big shot. Whatever you think about Audley he has a pretty decent record (although he often looks unimpressive when he wins.) Given that he is 39 years old I think his stamina will be more of a problem than ever and I expect David Haye to be all over him for the majority of the fight. Even if Audley is in the shape of his life he has no more than a puncher’s chance, but he is a big puncher…

I believe Haye’s movement and power probably put him on a par with the Klitschkos in terms of ability, however he still has to prove this. He needs to face the Klitschkos to gain credibility as I believe facing any other fighter in this division carries risk without much reward. Haye has to ask himself what is more important to him – money or legacy? I fear his major motivation is money. I don’t blame Haye for wanting to milk his title a little before retirement, but what if one of his hand picked opponents lands that one big shot? I fear Haye may then never take a shot at the Klitschkos.

A part of me would like to see Harrison win tonight as it would make a great story, however I predict the ref will probably step in at about round 5 to stop the fight in favour of Haye.

Next up Khan versus Maidana. Now in terms of boxing skill Khan is faster, has a longer reach, is a better combination puncher, has a better defence and a better coach! Whether Maidana has more knock-out power is debatable, but both guys have a lot of stoppages on their record. The one question people have been asking is regarding who has the better chin with most guys favouring Maidana.

When Maidana beat Ortiz he looked to be on his last legs (and was floored 2 or 3 times) when Ortiz dropped his hands and allowed him to land a lot of right hands flush. Despite his ‘monstrous’ power he was not able to knock Ortiz out cold, the fight was stopped as Ortiz seemed exhausted and quit as a result. However I honestly believe that if a rematch were to take place Ortiz would probably stop Maidana.

Maidana can be hurt and Khan is a fast, accurate and powerful fighter who may be able to overwhelm Maidana. However Maidana is dangerous when he’s desperate and will continue to charge forward taking wild swings. So the question is can Khan deal with this? When Khan was younger he appeared weight drained as a lightweight and was unbalanced with a large upper body and skinny legs. I believe this made him vulnerable. His conditioning is now much better and he is stronger and more comfortable as a light welter weight. If Khan keeps his hands up in the same way as he did against Kotelnik, I see him dealing with Maidana fairly comfortably. Like Harrison I see Maidana having no more than a punchers chance. I predict Khan will stop Maidana around about round 8 or 9.

So there you have it, Haye and Khan should win, they are the guys with the talent, however if either fighter comes in unprepared both Harrison and Maidana can be very dangerous opponents. There is still a chance of an upset and it is for this reason that I am looking forward to both fights…