Where, please, did Haye prove himself as a brilliant boxer? He has two title fights in his life against much smaller opponents. He showed flashes of good skills in these fights, but won them largely because he was the bigger man and the more powerful puncher. Mormeck could walk him down and KD him. Fragomeni was competitice in the early rounds. These fighters wouldn't land a single punch on Vitali. Nobody ever used boxing skills efficiently against Vitali. He is not textbook pretty, because boxing manuals were not written for lanky 6'8 fighters. But he has mastered a very, very efficient style for his body type.
VK keeps the left low & he leans in with his head to goad the opponent into throwing something wild so he can counter it. He does this very effectively even though it appears awkward & most fighters wouldn't get away with a style like that. Vitali also throws from all angles, varied punches and combinations. He has a mean left hook/uppercut thing that's also very effective.
I think this is one of the most difficult fights to call in recent years. You can talk about the punching power of Vitali but he will never have faced anything remotely like the speed of Haye - and he doesn't exactly punch with daisies either. However, there is a suspect punching resistance for young David and if he doesn't play it very very carefully against the big man then this could be over very quickly and very embarassingly. Klitschko can throw from as many angles as he wants, but if he takes 3-4 punches in the time it takes him to throw one he's not going to like it very much and it'll take its toll. I'm not going to make a prediction yet though - but I think it is an intriguing fight.
It seems like the worse match-up for David Haye, but I think he's going to surpirse everyone. I'd bet on a split decision lose by Haye, but I wouldn't be shocked if he knocked Vitali out in the later rounds.
Watch Vitali's fight with Corrie Sanders. He was wobbled early but came back to break Sanders down. I don't think Haye hits harder than Sanders, so I think it will pan out in similar fashion. Vitali definitely wants to put a beat-down on this guy, so he might keep him in there for punishment.
Vitali is going to ko Haye inside the first 50 seconds of round one. Haye is going to attempt to "jump" Klitschko and that spells disaster. This is not Wladimir. Vitali won't panic, won't retreat, and won't go down from anything Haye throws at him. As soon as Vitali returns fire and lands, this is over.
Yes, but that is his only shot and it may very well be a small one. He is not going to outbox Vitali anyway so he has to try to knock him out in th first 6. Conventional wisdom here is that Quitaly will outlast the early onslaught due to his good chin and then take over and knock Haye out in the mid to late rounds.
:good Vitali is very good at keeping the right distance. He is a real master of that component. He is close enough to land his punches but his oppoenents cannot reach him.
haye is no old heavy and slow lewis who still beat klitchko for that matter.. klitschko is in for a surprise, and it wouldn't be that much of an upset if gets ktfo in 5 rounds! klitchko quit against chris "the great" byrd ffs, remember?
Lewis did not beat Vitali. He was loosing the fight but he got lucky with one of his punches and opened a nasty cut on Vitali's face. Such things does not happent all the time. This was the crusial moment in that fight. Haye is nowhere near Byrd's skills. If Byrd and Lewis could do something, nothing suggests that Haye is capable of doing something similar. Haye is not Lewis or Byrd if you have not noticed yet. Haye is not fighting smaller guys at European level this time. He fight at the highest level. This is not European level where Haye proved himself.
Lewis did beat Vitaly, but that´s not relevant for this thread. Haye is young, has power and confidence. That´s something you can´t take away from him. Though Vitaly is relatively old, in his last fight he was still very strong and didn´t show any sign of him being completely over the hill. Though Haye off course doesn´t have Lewis´ or Byrd´s skills, he does have his own skills and i think these skills pose a danger to any Klitschko. Haye is fast, has power, good reflexes and is able to give angles. He´s someone who does things, his opponents do not expect. The only thing that does make me a bit concerned is his chin. Unlike Wlad, Vitaly does not lay that much power into neither his jab nor his right hand though in his fights. If Haye does not have a chin as bad as Herbie Hide, i think he has a decent chance to win this. He´s not as slow as Peter and he does punch harder than Gomez, whose only chance would´ve been a decision.