Haye-Vitali Klitschko in June in London

[Autobarn]

I think the fact that Vitali is willing to come to London is the main decider. A few subplots that will give Haye confidence, ie he likes the upright guys, Vitali's inactivity & injuries, the notion that Vitali has mainly beaten fat plodders; and the fact that while there is a size/weight difference, there isn't really a difference in class.

Will Haye find a way, can his right hand bomb reach an inch or two higher than the shot that put Gurov and Macca in dreamland? Can Haye use head movement to make those long jabs sail way over his head? Or will he go down from grazing shots, get knocked out by jabs before the right hand even gets dropped in his direction (see finish to Vitali-Hide - not a phantom punch, HH was KO'd by the jab)?

Still, it seems he could have built himself into the heavyweight he wants to be, and could have waited to see if Povetkin beats Wlad, and see if Vitali picks up injuries vs JC Gomez...

[Lenny]

Max you asked why he wasn't out on the first knockdown, it didn't land cleanly, none of the knockdowns really did. Have you seen the fight?

His chin hasn't faded since the Lewis uppercut though, he'd take Haye's reckless overhand rights easy.

Based on what?

[banjo]

Scam Cheater

[forcefraser]

Hats off to Haye.

I think it is a bridge too far though and can see him getting stopped inside 8

[DavidPayne]

I think the fact that Vitali is willing to come to London is the main decider. A few subplots that will give Haye confidence, ie he likes the upright guys, Vitali's inactivity & injuries, the notion that Vitali has mainly beaten fat plodders; and the fact that while there is a size/weight difference, there isn't really a difference in class.

Will Haye find a way, can his right hand bomb reach an inch or two higher than the shot that put Gurov and Macca in dreamland? Can Haye use head movement to make those long jabs sail way over his head? Or will he go down from grazing shots, get knocked out by jabs before the right hand even gets dropped in his direction (see finish to Vitali-Hide - not a phantom punch, HH was KO'd by the jab)?

Still, it seems he could have built himself into the heavyweight he wants to be, and could have waited to see if Povetkin beats Wlad, and see if Vitali picks up injuries vs JC Gomez...

No money in Haye v Gomez or Povetkin.....Haye is eager to get at them because they're the last semblance of renown in the otherwise turgid division, people kno VK because of LL and they know of WK because of his brother.

[ALI]

I think Haye will fold in this fight. A bold statement, and probably uncalled for, i know!

He should be applauded for his courage in going straight for the biggest, most dangerous fight out there. I definate'ly take my hat off to him and i'll be supporting him all the way. But i see him shying away from Vitali's power and looking nervous. My instincts told me he was definate'ly wary and nervous of Barrett clocking him and if that intensifies versus Vitali i think he will be put down several times in the first 3 or 4 rounds before it gets called off.

Vitali is as tough as they come, he took everything Lewis threw at him and still kept on comming. I just dont see how Haye could possibly KO him, unless ring rust and age really has caught up with him, but i seen no signs of that in the Peter fight. Haye's in for it IMO, i just hope that if he does get plastered it does not have a detremantal effect on the rest of his career.

[Autobarn]

I think the fact that Vitali is willing to come to London is the main decider. A few subplots that will give Haye confidence, ie he likes the upright guys, Vitali's inactivity & injuries, the notion that Vitali has mainly beaten fat plodders; and the fact that while there is a size/weight difference, there isn't really a difference in class.

Will Haye find a way, can his right hand bomb reach an inch or two higher than the shot that put Gurov and Macca in dreamland? Can Haye use head movement to make those long jabs sail way over his head? Or will he go down from grazing shots, get knocked out by jabs before the right hand even gets dropped in his direction (see finish to Vitali-Hide - not a phantom punch, HH was KO'd by the jab)?

Still, it seems he could have built himself into the heavyweight he wants to be, and could have waited to see if Povetkin beats Wlad, and see if Vitali picks up injuries vs JC Gomez...

No money in Haye v Gomez or Povetkin.....Haye is eager to get at them because they're the last semblance of renown in the otherwise turgid division, people kno VK because of LL and they know of WK because of his brother.

True, but let's say Povetkin ground down Wlad, then there would be some excitement about Povetkin...

I suppose Haye migth ratinalise it, he prefers the tall guys with their chins stuck out, to the pressure fighters who always give him problems.

[Phenomenal-Nutrition]

Haye by KO mid rounds. Vitali looked very slow against Peter, flat footed and he fights with his hands down, he also looked pretty weak physically and has never had much pop in his shots. Hes been slowing down previously and its all going to catch up to him against a fast athletic power puncher in his prime.

The only thing he does particularly well is fight at 6'7, leans back and throws allot of sloppy arm punches. Does any boxing brain really think a past prime lean back hands down defense and sloppy arm punches will beat a Prime Haye when David typically excels against this type of fighter?

The only hesitation I have is Haye himself fights like a drunken sailor at times himself.

[Phenomenal-Nutrition]

I don't see why people think Haye will have trouble finding Vitali just because hes 6'7. Haye didnt have trouble finding Gurov or Enzo Mac who are slightly shorter. Sure Vitali can lean back and slowly counter against slow plodders like Williams and Peter BUT against anyone with speed, traight punches and athleticism lands flush on him time and again. A 38yo fat old golfer rained straight shots on Vitali hurting him until he tired and wanted to go back to the golf course. Lennox was 37, overweight and past prime, allot slower than Haye but landed his rights and uppercuts flush on Vitali and hurt him.

Haye will be the fastest (actually Sanders was faster but he shot his load after 2rounds) most athletic power puncher Vitali has faced and will keep his power longer. Plus Vitali is now 37

[Shirow]

If Haye insists on lunging in with single shots like he did with Barrett Vitali will lean/step back out of range and will punish him with countering combinations.
He did appear to be fighting scared against Monte and there isn't a scarier active HW than Vitali so i could easily see him exhausting himself then getting battered and stopped. Sam Peter did make him look excellent but he was still setting a decent pace and throwing plenty of punches so there were no signs of deterioration

I think the Vitali v Sanders would give the best clues to how this will go i will have to watch that again. I'll imagine how it could have gone if Sanders had head movement and more than 2 rounds of fitness.

[doctorboxing]

I hope Haye wins and I believe he can however the most important thing is.......

Haye is doing just what he said he would, go to heavy cause a stir and get a fight with a Klitschko. This is so refreshing after years of allegedly fwank putting his fighters against crap mandatories. Finally we have a fighter who is willing to forget padding his record and just get in there and do what he promised.

Major respect to David haye and Adam booth!

[Chambers2]

Max, Haye dropped Barrett 5 times therefore his power is over-rated????

I said might be average not overrated, Haye normally has them out by the 1st knockdown. Why wasn't Barrett stopped after the first?

Probably because Haye just clipped him and didn't catch him clean til the final knockdown/knockout when the 3 punch combo took Monte out

99% of the sane population rate Hayes power as being very good if not excellent, so if you're saying that his power is average then you're underrating his power

[Loynesy]

Hats off to David, and of course I want him to win, but Vitali can just jab him to death and rock back when Haye throws his lunging rights.

I commend him, but think he'll get beaten.

[jameswilson]

Yeah you're right Haye should pick up a WBO title and defend it against bums in his hometown for the majority of his career.

Vitali is not impregnable, if he gets caught he feels pain like the rest of the world

You know how reliable Max's predictions are. Im actually tempted to go and put my mortgage on Haye now I'v seen that Max thinks Haye will lose.

Chambers the WBO champion Is also the IBF champion and a Klitschko. I didn't say anything like you assumed In my title, I'm just being realistic. The fact he needed 5 knockdowns to stop Barrett may make a case for his power being average at HW. Your too biased against mouthy fighters your unreal sometimes. It's not normal bias either, you dare people to defy their words even when It's garbage.

The WBO has a lot of respectable champs lately unlike the WBA at the moment. There as bad as each other though.

James you thought Audley was going far and picked him over guys he lost, my predictions own yours. I picked Hopkins over Pavlik, I picked Vitali over Peter when people were unsure. I am te Calzaghe of fight picking compared to some of you.

Dr Iron Fist will sucessfully operate on Haye sadly. He lets his fist do the talking Instead of using a charity event to Insecurely stand on a higher step to talk crap to them.

Yeah I decided to support someone from the start of his career to the end, something you've never done with anyone you've just cherry picked Calzaghe and possibly a few others and made out like your some sort of die hard. You said something along the lines of Oscar will definately beat Pac man no doubt, predicted Froch would lose to Pascal over on eastside (the posts have now been deleted as I remember one I made in the said thread.) And also you are well known by respected members here for being the village idiot on these boards, you make about 10 posts a day on I dont know how many boards, so exactly what your social life must be like I dont know. If the prediction league had kept running Id be quietly confident of finishing above you and back in the doghouse days I was always one who finished high up.

[Raff The Frenchman]

Haye by KO mid rounds. Vitali looked very slow against Peter, flat footed and he fights with his hands down, he also looked pretty weak physically and has never had much pop in his shots. Hes been slowing down previously and its all going to catch up to him against a fast athletic power puncher in his prime.

The only thing he does particularly well is fight at 6'7, leans back and throws allot of sloppy arm punches. Does any boxing brain really think a past prime lean back hands down defense and sloppy arm punches will beat a Prime Haye when David typically excels against this type of fighter?

The only hesitation I have is Haye himself fights like a drunken sailor at times himself.

you must have had the wrong TV channel dude.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Haye by KO mid rounds. Vitali looked very slow against Peter, flat footed and he fights with his hands down, he also looked pretty weak physically and has never had much pop in his shots. Hes been slowing down previously and its all going to catch up to him against a fast athletic power puncher in his prime.

The only thing he does particularly well is fight at 6'7, leans back and throws allot of sloppy arm punches. Does any boxing brain really think a past prime lean back hands down defense and sloppy arm punches will beat a Prime Haye when David typically excels against this type of fighter?

The only hesitation I have is Haye himself fights like a drunken sailor at times himself.

Those sloppy arm punches have annihilated almost everyone he has fought, each individual shot may not be a knockout shot, but he throws a lot of them, and he is accurate as well. Sam Peter quit on his stool from them, that tells you how hard he punches. Nobody else was able to do that to Peter, Wlad included.

Vitali fights a style which is EFFECTIVE for HIM. By leaning back, he makes it much harder for his opponents to reach him and he carries both arms out in front of him, which means he is always near the target.

Haye hasn't fought a single guy to prepare him for Vitali, there is nobody else in the division with the same mix of willpower, toughness, relentless punching and sheer physical presence in the division.

[Carbo]

Haye by KO mid rounds. Vitali looked very slow against Peter, flat footed and he fights with his hands down, he also looked pretty weak physically and has never had much pop in his shots. Hes been slowing down previously and its all going to catch up to him against a fast athletic power puncher in his prime.

The only thing he does particularly well is fight at 6'7, leans back and throws allot of sloppy arm punches. Does any boxing brain really think a past prime lean back hands down defense and sloppy arm punches will beat a Prime Haye when David typically excels against this type of fighter?

The only hesitation I have is Haye himself fights like a drunken sailor at times himself.

Those sloppy arm punches have annihilated almost everyone he has fought, each individual shot may not be a knockout shot, but he throws a lot of them, and he is accurate as well. Sam Peter quit on his stool from them, that tells you how hard he punches. Nobody else was able to do that to Peter, Wlad included.

Vitali fights a style which is EFFECTIVE for HIM. By leaning back, he makes it much harder for his opponents to reach him and he carries both arms out in front of him, which means he is always near the target.

Haye hasn't fought a single guy to prepare him for Vitali, there is nobody else in the division with the same mix of willpower, toughness, relentless punching and sheer physical presence in the division.

Maybe Haye could ask Vlad for some sparring to help him prepare, eh?

[Deserter]

What I love most about this fight is that I genuinely can't make up my mind regarding the winner - always the sign of a classic confrontation.
Even reading the different predictions/scenarios outlined on here has me swaying back and forth like a pendulum as I envisage one playing out but am then convinced by another.
However it's going to play out thank god the fight's been made...

[jamesmcdonnell]

Haye by KO mid rounds. Vitali looked very slow against Peter, flat footed and he fights with his hands down, he also looked pretty weak physically and has never had much pop in his shots. Hes been slowing down previously and its all going to catch up to him against a fast athletic power puncher in his prime.

The only thing he does particularly well is fight at 6'7, leans back and throws allot of sloppy arm punches. Does any boxing brain really think a past prime lean back hands down defense and sloppy arm punches will beat a Prime Haye when David typically excels against this type of fighter?

The only hesitation I have is Haye himself fights like a drunken sailor at times himself.

Those sloppy arm punches have annihilated almost everyone he has fought, each individual shot may not be a knockout shot, but he throws a lot of them, and he is accurate as well. Sam Peter quit on his stool from them, that tells you how hard he punches. Nobody else was able to do that to Peter, Wlad included.

Vitali fights a style which is EFFECTIVE for HIM. By leaning back, he makes it much harder for his opponents to reach him and he carries both arms out in front of him, which means he is always near the target.

Haye hasn't fought a single guy to prepare him for Vitali, there is nobody else in the division with the same mix of willpower, toughness, relentless punching and sheer physical presence in the division.

Maybe Haye could ask Vlad for some sparring to help him prepare, eh?

Aside from height, they have hardly any similarities.

[Herol]

Lennox has said he'll help Haye prepare. Does that mean he'll spar with him? If so that would be tremendous if Lewis is in any kind of shape.

[yiddo14]

Vitali took Lennox Lewis's uppercut full force and didn't go down even when It snapped his head back, Haye won't KO him.

Haye needed 5 against Barrett for a guy with good power.

Fair points Max, BUT....

Vitali has not been hit in a Pro Ring with any kind of focre since that Lewis fight.
Peter didn't test him at all.
Time out of the ring means Vitali still has questions to answer. There is a good chance Vitali is not as tough as he once was given his time off.

Haye's timing was off that night with Barrett(no excise mind. His timing may be off when he fights Vitali...although Vitali isn't as mobile)and Haye didn't really catch him clean at any point in the fight.

Vitali starts a very warm fav, but this is not impossible for David.

Major props to Haye for gunning for the bigger and badder of the 2 bro's.

I cannot remember the las British fighter to have such ambition

[jamesmcdonnell]

Lennox has said he'll help Haye prepare. Does that mean he'll spar with him? If so that would be tremendous if Lewis is in any kind of shape.

Which I doubt he is, he looked huge last time he was seen in public, well over 300 lbs. Lennox apparently keeps in reasonable shape, but I doubt sparring will be on the agenda.

[Autobarn]

Nice theory PN, and I recall you did pikc up on how open Vitali appeared vs Peter...However, every man has his physical limits. I'm just not sure haye is sturdy enough and there is a strong possibility that he could fold. Durability, physical strength, the ability to fight well coming forward - even with that it's hard to beat Vitali. David Haye is a class fighter, but I don't associate Haye with physical strength and durability and fighting coming forward.

Hopefully Haye can connect with those straight hard shots. Haye does look good punching at a high up chin.

[Chambers2]

Klitschko camp confirm Haye fight

David Haye will fight Vitali Klitschko in London next summer, the Ukranian's manager Bernd Boente has confirmed.

The deal was done after Briton Haye watched Klitchko's brother, Wladimir, retain his IBF and WBO heavyweight belts in Mannheim on Saturday.

"We agreed to do the fight next summer in London," Boente told BBC Sport.

"It could take place at Wembley, but maybe it's too big. I'd personally prefer Chelsea. I've been there a couple of times and I'm a fan."

London's former undisputed cruiserweight champion Haye, 28, knocked out American Monte Barrett in only his second heavyweight fight last month.

He immediately called out either Klitschko, although the younger but marginally smaller Wladimir seemed the more likely target.

Vitali, 37, boasts an impressive record of 35 wins and two losses from 37 fights, the most recent defeat at the hands of Lennox Lewis in Los Angeles in 2005.


He reclaimed the WBC belt, which he had vacated in 2005 by announcing his retirement, with a comprehensive victory over Samuel Peter in October.

"This is going to be the biggest fight since Lennox [Lewis] and [Mike] Tyson," Haye, who will have no warm-up fight for Klitschko, told BBC Radio Five Live on Sunday.

"I have said from day one I am going to be the undisputed cruiserweight and heavyweight champion. I have not disappointed. I am not cherry-picking, I am going after the most dangerous fighter on the planet.

"We sat down and talked numbers that made sense for both sides, and it's done and dusted. We agreed terms and just need to dot the i's and cross the t's. Plain and simple, this is how boxing should be."

Haye also revealed that Britain's last world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, who retired after a controversial cuts stoppage victory over Vitali Klitschko in 2003, has already offered his help.

Haye said: "I'm really good friends with Lennox. He wasn't impressed with Wladimir's performance against Hasim Rahman [a seventh-round stoppage on Saturday] either and thinks I would knock him out.

"Lennox has worked with me in the gym before, he's seen me sparring, he knows I'm the real deal. I'll definitely bring him on board in an advisory role.

"He's fought Vitali, he knows what works and what doesn't and if there's anyone to give me advice about strategy, it's Lennox. Maybe I'll go to the States where he is based. I've got six months, a long build-up to the fight, so why not?"

While Haye would be a big underdog against Vitali, who boasts 35 career knockouts, Boente, who also represents Wladimir, said the fight would reignite interest in the heavyweight division.

"This will be a very big fight across the world," said Boente. "The Klitschkos are heroes in Central and Eastern Europe and it's a fight [American television networks] HBO and Showtime would be very interested in.

"David brings something new and exciting. He looked great against Monte Barrett, who [WBA title-holder] Nikolay Valuev took 11 rounds to stop. Haye KO'd him in five rounds. He's young, hungry and very fast. It's a huge fight."

Boente added that Vitali's scheduled mandatory defence against Juan Carlos Gomez would not prove a stumbling block.

He added: "We'll talk to the WBC, but we'll go ahead with or without them. Vitali is the heavyweight champion of the world and this fight is bigger than the WBC belt."

It's on

This is how simple boxing CAN be when it's in left the right hands

Nice to see Lennox doing his bit for Queen and Country!! He's as British as Buckingham Palace I tell ya

[J]

ill be back for this one..come on David...