Haye to take advantage of Fury’s poor footwork

By Sam Jaegerson - 09/18/2013 - Comments

haye7By Sam Jaegerson: On September 28th the eagerly anticipated heavyweight showdown between WBO #3 David Haye and WBO #5 Tyson Fury takes place at the Manchester Arena. This is the most anticipated Heavyweight showdown on British shores since David Haye stopped Dereck Chisora in a very entertaining fight last summer. Firstly I would like to credit Tyson Fury for taking this fight. There are many unnamed up and coming Heavyweights currently plying their trade who wouldn’t dare take such a risk. Sadly for Tyson I believe this is a risk that won’t pay off.

Looking at David Haye’s record it is hugely impressive. A former unified Cruiserweight Champion and a former WBA Heavyweight Champion it is easy to see why the bookmakers are making him the heavy favorite. But what makes David Haye such a heavy favorite, after all this is Heavyweight boxing where anything can happen, just ask Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson and Wladimir Klitschko who all suffered shock KO defeats in their illustrious careers. You must also acknowledge he is going against a fighter who has stopped 15 of his 21 opponents.

Now whether you consider his opponents to be of the highest quality or not you can only stop what is put in front of you. For me the reason the bookmakers see such a clear difference between both fighters is Tyson Fury’s lack of footwork. Looking back on his fight with Steve Cunningham you have to ask yourself why a guy with a 6” height and 3” reach disadvantage was able to get so close, so often.

Simply put it was Tyson’s clumsy footwork which allowed this to happen. He should have used his jab and combinations more effectively and then got out of reach, as it was clear that Cunningham’s plan was to catch him with the overhand right. Tyson got away with it on that eventful evening however I don’t feel he will be so lucky against David Haye.

David Haye came across a fighter very similar to Fury in the shape of “The Russian Giant” Nikolay Valuev. That night David Haye walked away with the WBA Heavyweight title because he simply had the better footwork. Despite having a huge reach and height advantage Valuev struggled to get close and was getting caught with looping shots when he did, this was because his feet didn’t allow him to get out of danger after throwing his straight shots. I can see something very similar happening to Tyson Fury on September 28th. The way to beat Haye is to work off a solid jab and to have good footwork.

Wladimir Klitschko did this superbly in their fight. David couldn’t getting in range and every time he did Wladimir used his footwork to retreat, and once at a safe distance he went back to using the jab. Despite these skills being considered the most basic a boxer can have, they can also be the most effective.

Even though in my opinion he carries a severe lack of footwork you can’t completely write Tyson Fury off. That is the beauty of Heavyweight boxing and despite its lack of talent at the present time why it remains so popular. The best in the world can have off days and can get caught. Even the great Floyd Mayweather would be defeated as a Heavyweight. When Shane Mosley caught him clean on the chin in their showdown he was able to grab hold and survive. He wouldn’t of had such luck had he been operating in the Heavyweight division. After all, in this division it only takes one punch and everyone is going home early.



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