Wlad didn't dominate but he clearly won. Not tooting my own horn, but you cant explain it any better than that.
Haye put on the most disgraceful performance in heavyweight history, playing defense only in order to survive and diving to the canvas in order to avoid punches. Wlad stalked him the whole fight but couldn't land consistently except with the jab because all of Haye's efforts were bent on not getting hit.
I think exactly what I thought before the fight: http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=294348&highlight=wigan+hype
That avatar is ****ing genius. My take on the fight . . . Wlad came out and dominated behind the jab keeping great distance between himself and Haye, but was surprised by Haye's reflexes and ability to slip punches. This meant he was even more cautious with the right hand. And just focused on keeping Haye pinned down with the jab, and either tying Haye up or backing up and resetting when Haye came forward. Haye's tactics were obviously to come out and focus on not getting caught with anything big, and try to go after Wlad when he backed up and land something big. Haye wasn't expecting Wlad to be able to keep the distance anywhere near as much as he could, and was surprised by how fast Wlad could back up out of Danger. This meant he could not get in punching range, and was falling short with his punches and falling off balance. Basically he realised he couldn't land **** and become reluctant to throw. This resulted in a pretty dull stalemate with Wlad content on keeping Haye backed up behind the jab, and Haye concentrating on not getting caught by anything big while being reluctant to attack and leave himself open.
Wlad edged pretty much every round, but def no domination. They both landed about the same amount of big shots. Poor fight. Wlad fought smart and desrved the win.
Broken toes really hurt your performance. But he should have stopped all the talk when he knew he couldn't perform. He just made a fool of himself, and Wlad is a fool.
Both too cautious all throughout, not enough action for the regular fan, but I liked it and believe Haye put up the best performance of all opponents for the past 7 years, he was dangerous for the full 12rds. I scored 3 rds of that fight for Haye.
I see some very reasonable responses here. My take: Haye quickly learned that Wlad had much quicker hands and feet than he ever imagined. So rather than sit still at the end of his jab and get pummeled relentlessly by it for 12 Rounds, he did the only thing that would give him any shot (albeit a very small one) of winning - He stayed out of danger and waited patiently for a clear opening to land a one solid, lucky punch. Wlad is a smart fighter, and never gave him that opening until he made a small mistake in the 12th. And that's where Haye landed his big shot, and Wlad held him and regained his composure. Wlad didn't win every round, and he didn't even dominate any particular round. It was a 9-3, 10-2 fight with each and every round being close purely based on both fighters' unwillingness to engage.
unbiased? ok then: Haye was looking for one shot the whole fight, Wlad used his footwork, jab and threat of his right to keep Haye at bay, generally was supposed to be a huge rain, was a little drizzle
"Domination" is a strong word to describe this fight. A recent Klitschko 'dominant' fight would be when Vitali fought Adamek and ripped him apart for 10 rounds. But it was clear there was a gulf in class between Haye and Wlad. I think I scored the fight 11-1 in favour of Wlad (think I gave Haye round 3). Wlad started the better, came out fast and didn't allow Haye to settle and had the jab in his face straight away. Haye showed great speed and reflexes to dodge the jabs and whenever they were landing, his head movement was good that the sting was being taken off their impact. I think Haye began to realise Wlad was quicker than he thought as when Haye did try to throw a big right Wlad simply took a quick one or two steps back, making Haye miss wildly and making him look out of balance. Balance was a big problem for Haye, and it had nothing to do with a broken toe. Wlad's own reflexes were excellent, and as mentioned, the step back kept him out of range and made Haye's punches look wreckless. Neither fighter looked to want to engage in a real fight in the way Chisora did the other night, possibly because they both knew that neither could take each other's best punches consistently. Haye landed a great shot in the 3rd and another in the 12th, but they were the only two of real note. Wlad landed a big right in the 5th which rattled Haye, and he also landed a great one-two in the 6th which slowed Haye down big time. Even Adam Booth said after that 6th round shot he saw David begin to slow down. I will give Haye credit, he took a few of the big punches well and again this was down to his speed and movement. He was so hard to hit, and when he was, he was taking some of the power off of Wlad's punches. It wasn't the best of fights as mentioned, more tense and tactical than greatly entertaining. But it was clear that Wlad fought a great game plan to win the fight. The jab always in Haye's face + staying out of range + two quick steps back when Haye attempted to come forward + increasing right hand leads from round 6 onwards = Haye shut down stylistically. I don't care what Haye says and how he beat a stupid fighter like Chisora, the Klitschkos are a cut above. Although he might have a better chance against a semi-retired, 41 year old slowing down Vitali, it could prove to be another unwise fight. Vitali will engage and ultimately land more on Haye. He might not punch as hard as Wlad, but Vitali fights better. Wlad boxes better. Thoughts?
before the fight I said haye has no balls ,he's a clown ,so knowing Wlad this will be Wlad vs Ibraghimov 2 and that's exactly what happened.
It was a near shut-out allright. Wladimir just kept doing the same thing and Haye never stepped up, never adjusted and took very few risks.
Both were too weary of each other, Wlad stole most rounds with a higher output and landed a few more shots, Haye when he got close hesitated too much to take a chance, until the last round but Wlad held on and got by the round. It was exciting 'till the final bell because one shot from each fighter could end it but I've never felt the desire to watch it again. The ringwalk was ****ing epic BTW! Better than the fight! [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLeWZLsyc7c[/ame]