Klitschko-Haye Bout to Take Place in German Soccer Stadium – News

By Boxing News - 04/08/2009 - Comments

wladimir434443556By Chris Williams: With the latest news about International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (52-3, 46 KOs) facing British heavyweight David Haye (22-1, 21 KOs) in a 60,000 seat soccer in Gilsenkirchen, Germany, I’m now giving Haye next to no chance of winning the fight. Haye had it bad before the fight, coming into a bout with the best heavyweight on the planet with little experience at heavyweight, a bad chin and not enough size for the division. I could ignore all of those factors and still give Haye a moderately good chance because of his awesome power.

However, with the fight taking place in Wladimir’s neck of the woods in a large stadium which will no doubt be filled with a horde of loyal fans of Wladimir, I think it’s going to be far too much for Haye to get the victory. Oh, I’m sure a few thousand Limey fans will come over to support Haye for the bout, but their voice will be completely lost among all the Germans that will be attending the fight.

Haye is a good fighter, but with that many people rooting against him, I can’t see Haye doing any better than getting knocked out in the fight. He has little boxing skills, so I wouldn’t expect Haye to be able to win a decision over Wladimir, although I couldn’t see it happening anyway because Haye doesn’t box his opponents; He tries to take their heads off with every punch.

Haye has fought most of his career in the safe confines of England, fighting in front of friendly audiences almost always. Though Haye has found some success when traveling out of his country, most notably his 7th round TKO win over Jean Marc Mormeck in November 2007, most of his wins have come at home.

The win over Mormeck wasn’t such a big deal because of Mormeck’s limited height of 5’11”. When you compare that to the 6’6” Wladimir, it pretty much disqualifies that win completely for Haye. If you’re travel out of your country to fight, I can’t give Haye credit unless he’s fighting someone along the same lines of talent as Wladimir.

Unfortunately, I can see too many fighters other than Carl Thompson, who knocked Haye out in the 5th round in 2004, that can compare to Wladimir in terms of overall talent. As such, I think Haye is in way over his head by having to travel to what will likely be a hostile stadium on June 20th, filled with angry, Haye-hating Germans.

I wish Haye the best, but I think he’s going to get knocked out badly. It’s too bad because Haye did such a good job talking his way into a title fight against Wladimir without having to fighting his way into a shot like normal heavyweights. But, even if Haye does end up losing badly, maybe Vitali might still be interested in giving him a shot at his WBC title. At least Haye would get another opportunity to fight for a title, even if it isn’t earned.



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