Adam Booth: 'Haye would KO Vitali within 6 rounds'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/mar/27/david-haye-booth-vitali-klitschko

Now that David Haye has broken cover and declared he is back in the heavyweight boxing business, his trainer and confidant, Adam Booth, has renewed his attack on the one opponent the semi-retired Londoner needs to round out his career: Vitali Klitschko.
They have baited the Ukrainian, his younger brother, Wladimir, and their management team for years, and Booth says Klitschko's trainer, Fritz Sdunek, does not want the fight.

"I don't think it would go past six rounds," Booth said. "I've been told his trainer has told him not to take a fight with David. So I don't think it will happen.

"If they want it, he's here. But they haven't come to us, so the only conclusion I can come to is that they don't want it – because Vitali has slowed down, and I think they are scared to death of David knocking him out."
Reports that Haye, who once held the WBA version of the title now in Wladimir's possession, has merely to take a warm-up fight to get to Vitali – he will announce an opponent on Thursday for a fight in London on 29 June – do not sit with Booth's version of the scenario.

"I think they're waiting for a couple of things to happen before they make their move," Booth said. "They've been suspiciously quiet of late: no opponent, no date. They've named [Odlanier] Solis [who laboured over 12 rounds at the weekend in his comeback against the undistinguished Norwegian Leif Larsen] and some other guy, but they've made no announcements yet.
"We have our suspicions as to why they are waiting that long. I've got no doubt that their Holy Grail, their ultimate goal, is for Wladimir to hold all the belts. And these manoeuvres are partly based around that.

"[Vitali] doesn't have to fight David for the title if he doesn't want to. David's not interested in the title; he's interested in fighting Vitali. But, if I was a betting man, I would bet against Vitali fighting David. We had a deal, a contract that we were happy with, for a fight to take place [last] September. We were going to do [Dereck] Chisora first. They said: 'No you can't. If you do Chisora, we'll go somewhere else.'

"But I told them: 'You can't restrict us. I want this [Chisora] fight; David will win that, won't be injured – which is what happened – and then we'll do that.' They said no – and went and did Manuel Charr.

"Now they're saying: 'David was offered the fight for September, he said no, now we don't want it.' They wanted it in September; why don't they want it now? Is it because David blasted out Dereck and Vitali looked **** against Manuel Charr?"

Booth reckons Vitali would be an easier opponent for Haye than Wladimir, who outpointed him over 12 rounds. "Of the two brothers, Vitali is the easiest to hit, but the harder to hurt. Wladimir has developed a style that protects his vulnerabilities. He makes it difficult to be caught cleanly. And he's become very, very effective with that style.

"It's not entertaining, because it's not a fighting style, it's a boxing style. It keeps him winning and, as far as they're concerned, that's it. It's business: win, make money, move on, don't worry about anyone else.
"They know that David can hit. You look at Vitali's performance against Chisora [who went the distance with him]. By the end, Vitali wanted the fight over. And look how he struggled to handle Manuel Charr. The doctor did him a favour [the fight was stopped on a cut to Charr's right eyebrow two minutes into the fourth round; he had been down in the second]. Who do you think would win out of him and David? I think Vitali would struggle to last the distance with David. In that fight, speed kills."

If Haye does get to bring his entertaining feud the Klitschko family to a conclusion with a farewell fight against Vitali, he will trust Booth to work out not only the strategy for the contest but the business deal.
At the moment, it is a 50:50 proposition.

 

There's no doubting that Vitali is well past his prime, looks slow and is now simply getting too old.

It's safe for Haye to want to fight him now and not 2008-09 when he specifically targeted Wlad.