Valuev would probably beat Wlad.

Unlike Vitali, who fought Lewis, Wlad has not ever had to face man with equal or greater size.

This means he is unexperienced in this regard, and considering his fighting style which also differs from Vitali's, the Valuev that fought Haye would pose some significant problems for Wladimir.

1) Wlad is a fighter that fights tall, backs up in a straight line, and often relies on his size as his defense. Against Valuev, who is both bigger, taller and has a longer reach, this defensive style could prove to be ineffective and potentially disasterous.

2) Wlad will be forced to punch up. This is critical because unlike Haye and even his brother Vitali, Wlad rarely throws overhand rights, (effective against taller fighters), and does not explode with his left hooks. This is critical because Valuev won't have to make any significant adjustments with his defense and his hands will be in place to block Klitschko's straight punches.

3) Klitschko is not an effective body puncher and his skills on the inside mostly consist of clinching. This is significant because Valuev is much stronger than Klitschko, nulifying his clinch strategy, and as I said in the previous point that Valuev is so tall that he can afford to keep his hands at least somewhat low which will help to nulify a body attack by a guy who is not known as an effective body puncher.

4) Klitschko is unproven at slipping punches. This is important because Klitschko's lack of above the waist mobility will mean that he will be forced to block all the punches which can work, but is a one dimensional style of defense that Valuev will eventually penetrate.

5) Klitschko's mobility is not good enough to give Valuev significant problems. Klitschko will find Valuev a difficult man to run from if his PLAN A is not working.

This is a huge matchup problem for Klitschko and while Klitschko beats the majority of heavyweights, he likely loses to Valuev for the reasons stated above.

 

It's not that simple though.

People are underestimating Valuev first, and then styles secondly.

Most of the fighters who engaged Valuev get inside of his punches and throw hooks to his body and his head when on the inside.

Klitschko does not and really has never utilized this style. And while it's true that he's faster than Valuev, his style in combination with his physical attributes does not appear to be effective against Valuev.

 

Valuev actually has solid boxing skills though for someone his size. Especially from the outside.

While Haye proved that he could be beat from the outside, it was still somewhat of a close fight, and Haye has much more upward mobility than Klitschko and is also faster on his feet.

His style is also different from Wlad's as well.

Wlad may find Valuev a very difficult opponent. I'm not saying that Wlad would automatically lose to Haye, because that's completely irrelevant and a totally different fight, but against Valuev, he would have a huge challenge.

 

But how does he control a man with his jab when the man he is facing will jab when he does, and Klitschko doesn't have the mobility necessary to get out of the way of the jab?

Valuev has a longer reach and a better chin.

Klitschko has no problem getting out of the way of jabs of smaller men or guys like McCline who lack boxing skills, but Valuev is a different story.

 

Wlad takes backward steps against everyone though. Why would Valuev change this?

And as I said, Valuev will punch when Wlad punches. And considering Wlad has to punch up, this will slightly minimize his punching power, and Valuev will be in position to catch his jabs.

Combine this with the fact that Klitschko's lateral movement and ESPECIALLY his upper body movement is not on the same level as Haye's, this makes it a very difficult night for Wlad.

 

But how will he be more lost against a man that doesn't have the lateral or above the waist mobility that Haye has?