By William Mackay: David Haye (25-1, 23 KO’s) says he’s going to rip IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko apart in their upcoming bout on July 2nd. Haye, 30, clearly desperate to get any extra edge he can for the fight, has been training at hitting beef the same way that Sylvester Stallone did in his first Rocky movie.

Haye is taking comfort and motivation from that movie, seeing himself as an underdog in the same way that Rocky was an underdog against Apollo Creed and Ivan Drago. It’s all pretty silly, though, because this is real life and no matter whether Haye sees himself following in Rocky’s foot steps or not, he’s really over-matched against Wladimir. Haye’s main problem is that he hasn’t been willing to take on younger and more dangerous heavyweights in the three years that he’s been fighting at heavyweight.

Haye has taken the easy route by facing old nearly 40-year-olds each time out and now he’s finally taking risk in facing Wladimir. You can’t really take Haye seriously because he hasn’t been willing to trust his own ability to face better guys.

In an article at thesun.co.uk, Haye said “I’ll be making mincemeat of Klitschko. I’ve always been a big fan of the Rocky movies and spent a lot of time, probably too much time, watching them all. I love the Rocky storyline of the underdog going in and beat up big Russian Ivan Drago. It’s clinche, I know, but the sight of Rocky Balboa training by running up those steps in Phildelphia with his little dog and punching meat in the ice box really did act as one of my inspirations.”

It’s sad that Haye is wasting time fantasizing about seeing himself in a Rocky role when in reality he’s an inexperienced guy that doesn’t like to get hit and has a weak chin. He’s kind of the opposite of a Rocky. Instead of watching television, Haye should be focusing on real life and coming up with a good plan to try and beat Wladimir because he doesn’t have much of a chance int his fight.