By John F. McKenna (McJack): In his upcoming July 2nd title unification fight with David Haye (25-1-23 KO’s) Wladimir Klitschko (52-3, 49 KO’s) continues to assert that he will punish David Haye for eleven rounds before knocking him out in the twelfth round.

Is this more hype, or is that what “Dr. Steelhammer” really intends to do on July 2. There are a lot of things said by fighters when a fight is being hyped to the media. It is good business and it sells tickets. Muhammad Ali took hype to another level in his quest for the title in the mid 1960’s. He sold tons of tickets and made a lot of money, not only for himself, but for his opponents.

It is certain that the “Hayemaker” has gotten under Wladimir’s skin in an irritating way. Klitschko feels that Haye has talked his way into a title shot and has not done anything in the ring to warrant a shot at the titles that Wladimir holds. What bothers Klitschko the most however is the fact that there will be a 50/50 split in the earnings for both fighters.

“Dr. Steelhammer” sees Haye as a loud mouth upstart who should not be attempting to dictate the terms for the right to fight a Heavyweight Champion who has dominated the division for as long as Wladmimir Klitschko has.

Some of what Vladimir says maybe true. What no one can take away from the “Hayemaker” is the fact that, although he is a loudmouth, he has generated much interest in the heavyweight division. Let’s face it. The Klitschko’s have been so dominant that the casual boxing fans usually pay no attention to a heavyweight title fight. Now for the first time in years HBO will be showing a Klitschko title fight. People are taking notice and have been talking about the Haye – Klitschko fight for months when it is still a little over five weeks away. The heavyweight division needs this fight to be a competitive one. It has long been said that as heavyweight boxing goes so goes the fortunes of boxing itself. It is wonderful that the lighter divisions have been providing boxing entertainment for the past several years. Now hopefully the heavyweights will step up to the plate.

Now as far as Klitschko punishing Haye before he knocks him out, I’m not buying into that. I think back to the “Rumble in the Jungle” when Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in Zaire in the 8th round. Ali’s strategy was to tire Foreman out by pulling his “Rope a Dope” and allowing big George to flail away at him as he lay on the ropes. When Ali returned to his corner after the 5th round he told his trainer Angelo Dundee “I have him where I want him, now I’m going to play with him for a couple rounds.” Angelo realizing that even a tired George Foreman was dangerous, responded with an expletive deleted and told Ali “He’s too dangerous! Get him out of there!”

I’m not equating David Haye’s punching power with that of George Foreman, but he does have explosive power. I have a hunch that Emanuel Steward would give the same counsel to Vladimir Klitschko as Angelo Dundee gave to Muhammad Ali. As much as Klitschko would like to savage Haye for all the insults and barbs he has thrown at him and his elder brother Vitali, I am sure if the opportunity presents itself early in the fight he is going to take David Haye out. Any talk to the contrary by the Klitschko camp is, in my opinion pure hype.

One of the questions being asked by both Haye and Klitschko fans is, what strategy will David Haye use in his effort to defeat Vladimir Klitschko? Many critics of Haye point to his non aggressive style against the huge Russian Nikolai Valuev, in which he threw no more than ten punches a round. It’s pretty clear that Haye can not win by staying outside and throwing occasional potshots at “Dr. Steelhammer”. The strategy that almost every opponent in the last several years has used has been to try to box Klitschko and occasionally move inside at which time Vlad employs his grab and hold technique That strategy has worked very well for Klitschko. Obviously Haye has to come up with something else to have a real shot at winning. I believe what Haye will do is use his speed and explosive power to move in quickly and deliver punches in bunches. The Haye camp realizes that throwing one or two punches at a time will not work against Vladimir. Having come this far Haye wants to win against Klitschko and not just pick up a multi million dollar paycheck. David Haye and his manger/trainer Adam Booth think they have a good chance at winning this fight. They are fervently working on the strategy to move in with speed and explosive power not once, but again and again until Vladimir is KO’d. It is a risky strategy and one that Klitscko and Steward are anticipating. It is the only strategy for Haye that has a chance of working.