• Fight Insight

Haye's legacy hangs in the balance against Klitschko

Josh Williams July 1, 2011
The animosity between David Haye and Wladimir Klitschko is genuine, which adds to the intrigue © Getty Images
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The WBA heavyweight champion David Haye, 25-1 (23 KOs), faces WBO and IBF king Wladimir Klitschko, 55-3 (49 KOs), at the Imtech Arena in Hamburg on Saturday. Read on for our lowdown...

Steve Bunce: Haye's vicious streak will floor Wlad
Rewind to 2003: Vitali gives Lennox the fright of his life

David Haye unified the cruiserweight belts, won a heavyweight title in his second fight in the division, then annihilated an Olympic champion - but he knows the story of his career will focus on his performance against Wladimir Klitschko when, after two-and-a-half years of sniping, they finally meet in Hamburg.

"This is it, my career-defining fight," Haye said. "I took Nikolai Valuev's title, but there's more at stake in this one. This will decide my legacy."

And he knows the same is true of Klitschko who, despite dominating all-comers for the best part of a decade, and despite winning 13 consecutive fights, is in danger of relinquishing his right to be discussed in the same breath as the sport's greats.

There are already plenty of fans who are reluctant to give him any praise, as his methodical, uninspiring style has, so his detractors say, turned the casual viewer off heavyweight boxing. But you can't deny how effective he has been at grinding down opponents, sapping the fight from them with that relentless jab - and then going for the kill in the later rounds.

And it's that menacing jab which Haye must avoid if he is to stop himself falling into the trap that has ensnared so many. Opponents always know what the Ukrainian is going to do, and yet they are powerless to stop him carrying out the gameplan to perfection. That in itself is about as big a compliment as you can pay to Klitschko, who has complete understanding of both his strengths and his limitations.

Lethal fists, suspect chins - don't expect a long fight © PA Photos
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So, like he did against the seven-foot giant Valuev, Haye must cede the initiative and hop onto the back foot, using his footwork to stay out of range of the jab, before drawing Klitschko off-balance with weaves and feints. And then, when Klitschko is off kilter - and hopefully frustrated - Haye must explode, producing devastating, short bursts that unquestionably will carry enough venom to force a stoppage, which must be the most likely outcome.

The fragility of Klitschko's chin is exaggerated, but the facts are the facts - and they are enough to infuse any opponent with the belief that they are one haymaker away from a win. The most notable entries in his hall of shame: KO losses to Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster in 2003 and 2004, while Samuel Peter put him down three times when they met in 2006. Klitschko isn't the lumbering robot he's often portrayed as - in fact, he's deceptively quick - but you can't deny the vulnerability of that chin.

Haye's punch resistance also has a question mark hovering around it, with a KO defeat at cruiserweight - against Carl Thompson in 2004 - hanging over his head. Plus the suspicion remains that he is yet to have his chin examined at heavyweight, particularly when strolling through title defences against John Ruiz and Audley Harrison, both of whom were well past their prime and, in the case of Harrison, ludicrously reluctant to fight.

All this means two things: 1) Don't expect a late evening and 2) Haye cannot attempt to get in close and try to parry - or duck under - the jab. He just doesn't have the durability to withstand the punches he will receive if he attempts to set up camp on the inside.

Haye's tactics haven't just focused on his in-ring strategy - instead, he has waged verbal warfare which has, indisputably, riled Klitschko. "You can play basketball, you can play baseball, you can play golf," Klitschko said. "You cannot play boxing. It's serious business. It's not a joke, When I see a picture of our heads on a T-shirt or in a magazine I can't laugh about that, it's not funny. It's below the line of stupid. Guys have lost their health, their lives, been handicapped."

Haye's rhetoric has strayed from the usual I'll-knock-him-out bluster, and instead taken a more vicious tone. At the final press conference, he described the fight as a "brutal execution", shortly before pledging to send Klitschko away "in the ambulance".

The only punch Audley Harrison landed on Haye all night when they met © PA Photos
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Wladimir, unlike his brother Vitali, took a long time to fall in love with boxing, and Haye's words could have reawakened his natural reluctance to fight, leading him to carry a more restrained approach into the ring. Haye employed a similar verbal assault on Harrison - who is a pacifist compared to most boxers - and we all know what happened there.

Equally, Klitschko could be rattled to such an extent that he begins the fight with an aggressive onslaught, leaving himself open to the possibility of a counter-strike - or, on the contrary, it could sharpen his focus.

But however Klitschko does react to the provocation on fight night, you can bet it will have a significant effect. As he says: "You lose or you win the fight - and anything in life - in your mind. If you think about heaven and hell, it's all up here [in your head]."

And if Klitschko does lose, then it's another serious blow to the beleaguered heavyweight division. Haye may profess to be the saviour of boxing but, even if he beats Wladimir, he is going to retire in October, leaving the division shorn of its king - and with no heir in sight.

Prediction
Haye to prove himself too quick and too powerful. Haye KO is 2/1 with bet365.

The war of words
"I said to him, 'don't go in the ambulance with your brother to the hospital, stay back, you're the one that needs to be there at the press conference'."
Haye breathes fire at Vitali, who he could still face later this year - although it's extremely unlikely, with Vitali down to take on Tomasz Adamek in September

"I'm not gonna use any deodorant for three weeks!"
The WBA king unveils his ingenious strategy for preventing Klitschko from clinching

"I believe [they didn't fight Valuev] because it didn't fit the profile of a fat American guy, who they [the Klitschkos] usually like to pick. Wladimir is a fraud."
To be fair to the brothers, fat Americans have been as good as it's got in the heavyweights recently

"He wanted to hide in the other room. If Bin Laden's house is still available, he can go hide there. If we're talking about confidence; that shows something is missing."
Wladimir didn't take kindly to Haye's refusal to shake his hand

"My name is Dr Klitschko - I am a therapist for you on July 2. I am going to give you treatment, it's going to be reality rehab."
Preferable to being KOd, we suppose

"Would your mother like to see your head chopped off from your body, or your sister, or your brother?"
Guessing this one's hypothetical

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Josh Williams Close
Josh Williams is an assistant editor of ESPN.co.uk

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