By John F. McKenna (McJack): Over the last six and a half years Wladimir “Dr. Steelhammer” Klitschko (55-3, 49 KO’s) has a record of thirteen victories with no losses. Ten of those victories have come by the knockout route. Since 2005 Vladimir has been one of the most dominant fighters in boxing and is considered by most boxing analysts to be the best heavyweight in the world.

Eddie Chambers was thought by some to be a real threat when he faced Klitschko in March 2010. Chambers was fast and had very good defensive skills. Like many other fighters “Fast Eddie” was going to shock the world and was not in the fight with Vladimir just to pick up a paycheck. Once Chambers stepped into the ring with Klitschko however he went into survival mode and lost virtually every round. He was knocked out with just seconds to go in the final round.

The same scenario has been played over and over again. An opponent will face Vladimir and boast of how he is going to be different than the other opponents Klitschko has faced and make a real go of it. The results however have belied what was said in advance to hype the fight as time and again Vladimir has been victorious.

Klitschko’s critics have long maintained that he is “boring” and not an exciting fighter to watch. His safety first approach has not endeared him to boxing fans world wide and in fact Vlad’s upcoming bout with Haye on July 2 will be the first that HBO has shown in a couple of years.

David “The Hayemaker” Haye (25-1, 23 KO’s) is promising to usher in a new era and end the reign of Vladimir Klitscko in their title unification fight on July 2. Putting aside all the usual hype which precedes any Heavyweight Title fight, does David Haye have a serous shot at defeating Vladimir Klitschko? David Haye was impressive as the Cruiserweight Champion before moving up in class to heavyweight. He won a controversial decision over Russian giant Nikolai Valuev in 2009, to win the WBA Heavyweight title.

It is clear that Davie Haye has explosive speed and power, but he will be giving away four inches in height and approximately 35 pounds in weight to Klitschko. Will Haye’s speed and power be effective against the huge Ukrainian? The size difference between Haye and Klitscko is remarkable when you seem them standing next to each other.

Excluding Nikolai Valuev, One would have to go back to the July 4, 1919 matchup between Jess Willard and Jack Dempsey to see such a size differential between combatants for the heavyweight championship. Jess was 6’6.5” and weighed 245 pounds, approximately the same as Klitschko. Dempsey was 6’1.5” and weighed 187 pounds.

Dempsey was given very little chance to defeat big Jess, who had knocked out Jack Johnson in the 26th round four years prior. Willard took Dempsey very lightly and actually feared hurting “the boy” as he referred to his youthful challenger. The thing that Dempsey had going for him was that he was a murderous puncher at the peak of his game. In the lead up to the fight he had KO’d five straight opponents in the first round and that was in a period of six months. In addition Dempsey had no fear in the ring.

On the other hand Jess Willard had been inactive and was not as sharp as he should have been. He was promptly chopped down by Dempsey, who moved like a panther in the ring and pounced on his victim in the first round, never giving him a chance to breathe.

David Haye, if he has any chance to defeat Vladimir Klitschko, needs to take a page out of Dempsey’s book and pounce on Vlad early and prevent him from getting his rhythm started with his left jab. Don’t give him a chance to get comfortable behind his jab. Any strategy that “The Hayemaker” uses will be risky, but he can’t lay on the outside and wait for a miracle. Haye needs to make the miracle happen.