All 3 World Champs have fights which look easy and they are Massive Favs. Haye will win easy in a few rounds. Wlad will win easy after breaking Peter down but I think Vitali has been slipping and I give Briggs the best chance of maybe catching him and finishing him.
Wladimir will beat Sam Peter easily. After reviewing all of Sam's recent fights, I have little doubt about it. He hasn't changed one iota since the Vitali fight. He's going to get creamed. Haye punches too hard and too fast to lose against a guy like Harrison. Harrison is just too big of a target and offers very little in resistance. It should be over quickly. Briggs is a guy who hits extremely hard and Vitali is always making himself available. Briggs easily matches Lennox's size and can rough Vitali up inside. The key here is Briggs' stamina. Vitali has been degrading of late so the difference here might not be huge. Expect Briggs to do better than most expect.
Hmmm...Vitali is making himself available? He is one of the most difficult HW's to hit clean. His height plus reflexes is an unusual combination. Lewis could hit him because Vitali went for the brawl and Lewis had great movement, but Briggs wouldn't have survived those first three rounds with Vitali. Rough him upon the inside? Have you seen Briggs fight lately? Vitali is strong and mean, Briggs has the bulk but wrestling takes stamina also. I don't see good chances for any of the three, but I give a 5% chance to Harrison, simply because Haye is a sloppy fighter and prone to make mistakes. He often alternates between brilliant and sloppy in one round. And there is a (small) chance that he can be taken out with one punch.
I think you are confusing difficult to reach with difficult to hit. There is nothing incredibly hard about hitting Vitali IF you have the height and reach to hit him. It doesn't take a particularly elusive fighter to step straight back. Vitali gets away with it because most of his opponents are at least 6 inches shorter. Both Lewis and Sanders found Vitali easily. Briggs will as well. The obvious choice here is to say after a terrific brawl, Vitali's stamina comes out on top. Who knows though. Sanders had Vitali in serious trouble and I'd say Briggs hits as hard as Sanders. If not harder.
Good question. All three are big underdogs and all three champs should win and probably by ko. I'd give the most likely to pull the upset as this: 1 Harrison-he has the size advantage here and he has some decent skills. His biggest problem is his total lack of aggression. But he has some power and I wouldn't be totally shocked if he tests Haye's chin sometime in the fight. I'd say he has about a 10-15% chance of an upset. 2 Briggs-if he comes out looking for a ko then he has an early chance. Vitali is a tough formidable heavyweight but at nearly 40 and a history of injuries I also think he's the most vulnerable of the three champs. But he has a good chin and if Briggs doesn't get him early then Vitali will grind him down for a mid to late round stoppage. Briggs has about a 10% chance at an upset. 3 Peter-he can punch and Wlad's chin isn't iron and he doesn't handle pressure well, so Peter always has some chance. But Wlad is the best heavyweight by far and is on top of his game right now. He probably jabs Peter silly before scoring a late rounds stoppage or a wide UD. Peter has about 10% chance at best.
Briggs is going to get smashed. No chance of him beating Vitali because: 1. Vitali is unorthodox in his stance, moves awkwardly and somehow manages to not get hit cleanly very often. 2. Briggs is coming out of obscurity to fight a guy who is fighting at the top of the world competition level. Could Briggs take out Monte Barret or Chris Arreolla even? 3. Vitali hits like a truck, and the accumulation of those punches will likely end the fight TKO before Rnd 8. Peter has a slightly better chance. 1. He's fought Wlad before and dropped him 3 times. That could give him some psychological advantage. 2. Wlad, despite being dropped 3 times, still won on Pts. 3. Peter lost to Chambers last year, and Wlad made easy work of Chambers not long after. This may or may not make a difference, but is a common opponent. 4. Wlad has improved drastically since the last Peter bout, and I can't see him losing to Peter this time. Harrison has the best chance, IMO. 1. Haye is noticeably smaller. 2. Haye is a coward. 3. Haye is hot/cold type of fighter and he could fizzle. 4. Audley has everything to gain, and could show up ready to rock. 5. Haye is overconfident and may dismiss Audely as a bum.
