Vitali Will Have Problems with Haye

Based off of Wlad vs Haye, Haye will give Vitali absolute fits if they fight in March.

Looking at just round 1, from Haye vs Wlad, and Round 1 from Vitali's last two fights.

Haye vs Wlad

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l5UILX5dJ8[/ame]

Notice the speed in which Wlad comes out and backs Haye up against the ropes, with a very wide stance, constantly throwing and feinting his jab at Haye while being on his toes, ready to step away from any counter Haye throws.

Haye was able to avoid I think probably every single one of Wlads jabs in the first round through a combination of head/upperbody movement, footspeed, and patting them away with his gloves.

Wlad has gotten (unfair) stick for this, but look at the speed and frequency of his jab against Haye, and look at his footwork. Literally everytime Haye made a minor adjustment and moved into position, Wlad was in step with him, every time.

Early seconds of the round, Haye is bobbing and weaving under Wlads jab, and throws a hook to the body, and then one to the head which Wlad is quick enough to step away from. Notice the speed of the two fighters here, both handpseed, footwork, and upperbody movement.

What gave Haye trouble (apart from Wlads tremendous jab, which busied him even when it wasn't landing) was Wlads ability to match him step for step athletically, you can see it seems like he wasn't prepared for him being as quick as he was.

Next up, Round 1, of Thomasz Adamek, versus Vitali Klitschko

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS6phNhOt4w[/ame]

I think, from the first round of this fight, Adamek looked uncomfortable being in the ring with someone as big as Vitali.

Both fighters start of relatively slowly, meet in the middle, and Adamek circles round to Vitali's power hand constantly, without really sufficient headmovement to neutralise right hand, or the jab, which in comparison to Haye - Wlad, was thrown (or feinted), with far less frequency and speed.


Vitali, as usual, keeps his left hand very low while edging forward, and (slightly) reaching while stepping in with his punches. Nothing remarkable about this round, though I would say both fighters looked quite cumbersome, especially, if you compare it to the first round of Haye-Wlad.

Next up, Vitali vs Odlanier Solis


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AM5rfWR2eg[/ame]

Again, no real aggresive pursuit from Vitali, but his usual slow, stalking style, very similar to the Adamek fight, except Solis was able to land with his superior handspeed, albiet not devastating shots, but he was able to take advantage of Vitali's low left hand with the right hand counter (something that Haye looked for all night), and (comparitively) flat feet. The few incursions he made Vitali was certainly not as quick to avoid them or step away as his younger brother seems able to, whether it is faith in his chin, or simply that he is slower, is another matter, obviously I beleive it's the second.

Of course these are only FIRST rounds (I could not do all 12 on a saturday afternoon), and Vitali is a counter puncher and takes a while to time his opponent, but I seem to be one of the few people who rate Wlad above Vitali, not only in terms of resume but in ability. And the David haye from the first round of the Wlad fight, in the ring with the Vitali of either of his last two fights, definitely is not getting landed on, and would have sufficiently more chances to land than he did against Wlad, and would be in less danger of being hit with something big back.

I personally feel if the same Haye shows up against Vitali, he will give Vitali a lot of trouble. Have a look at the three vids posted before the 'this is the best blow you've landed all night' pics reign down

I really think Haye may be too fast for Vitali, whether it means he will win or not is a different matter but I think he matches up with him stylistically (in his favour) a hundred times better than he did with Wlad.

If it was Haye in there instead of Solis, or Adamek, how did you see those rounds going?

 

I definitely think Vital will be in the best shape of his life (as a 40 year old can be), but then I think he was against Adamek, I don't think fighters can change their styles, especially as old as Vitali is, and they definitely can't change their abilities, I don't think Vitali will be able to be fast enough, or improve his footspeed enough to trouble Haye in that regard.

Worst case scenario for Haye is that he gets dropped, then will be on his bike for the rest of the fight, but if Wlad couldn't catch him with 12 rounds of pressure I'm not sure Vitali will be able to.

Also not quite sold on him not being able to hurt him..Vitali certainly was taken aback by Solis landing (not that it hurt him) but if Haye lands he isn't going to just grin, it will force him back, if only a step or two, but he will definitely back up

I think Vital could finally start to look his age in this fight