By William Mackay: The hard-hitting cruiserweight contender and sometimes sparring partner for IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KO’s) is picking Wladimir to obliterate WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (25-1, 23 KO’s) in their bout next month at the Imtech Arena in Hamburg, Germany. Afolabi, 31, thinks Wladimir hits too hard for Haye to win this fight.

“He [Wladimir] hits you clean and your whole body shakes,” Afolabi said in an article at thesun.co.uk. “That jab of his is something else. It is going to destroy Haye. I had protected headgear on yet he punches me so powerfully I had a headache for four days after one session. At one stage I actually thought I was having a stroke because the pain in my head was so bad. He’s an incredible puncher. You see his hands in front of you and think you can block the punches. No way.”

The 6’3″ Afolabi is actually an inch taller than Haye. That tells you what kind of problems that Haye is going to be having on July 2nd against Wladimir. Afolabi faces Terry Dunstan (24-3, 14 KO’s) in a scheduled 12 round bout on the undercard of Klitschko-Haye. This should be an interesting to fight to see.

Wladimir’s jab is going to be a huge problem for Haye in this fight because Haye has already hinted that he plans on using a lot of movement against Wladimir. This means that Haye will be stuck on the outside at the mercy of Wladimir’s jabs. Haye will be able to avoid some of Wladimir’s jabs but not enough of them to be competitive. At the same time, the constant movement from Haye will cause him to deplete his own energy reserves, making it all but impossible for him to try and score a knockout unless Haye is able to land something big when Wladimir attempts to clinch. Haye is a good cruiserweight facing a super heavyweight. The size advantage alone will likely be enough for Wladimir to win comfortably.