Haye is a fighter that lives and dies by his ability to knock out his opponents once he gets in close enough to land his looping shots. The problem against a big fighter like Wladimir is that he’s learned how to shut off the offense of shorter/smaller guys like the 6’2″ 210 pound Haye by clinching them when they get close enough for to land shots with their shorter arms.
On the outside, Wladimir tends to pound his opponents with jabs and rights and when they get close, he grabs them in a tight clinch to keep them from doing much. Wladimir has learned his lesson from a defeat suffered eight years ago to South African Corrie Sanders, who Wladimir allowed to get close without tying him up. Wladimir has been a lot better for the most part since then in grabbing his shorter opponents to keep them from doing much in close.
Haye seems have noticed how Wladimir is able to dominate with his jab and grab technique. However, Haye says “He’s not going to be able to grab me.” This may sound like an idle boast on Haye’s part, but it likely isn’t. If you look at Haye’s fights, he rarely allows his opponents to clinch. For example, Audley Harrison and John Ruiz both made the mistake of trying to clinch Haye and were badly hurt when Haye used that opportunity to land clubbing shots to the head while being held.
Clinching seems to be something that helps Haye, because he’s able to land his shots without having to worry about closing the distance. With his shorter arms, Haye is able to get a lot of power on his punches even while being held. Wladimir might have to decide on another option to shut Haye down rather than clinching him, unless Wladimir wants to trade shots with Haye in a clinch.
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