• Boxing

Wlad too predictable to down Haye - Lewis

ESPN staff
June 30, 2011

Rewind to 2003: Vitali gives Lennox the fright of his life

Wladimir Klitschko's inflexible style of fighting will prove his undoing when he takes on David Haye at the weekend, according to Lennox Lewis.

While Klitschko rarely varies his tactics in the ring, his preferred method of combat - plenty of jabbing early on to wear down an opponent, before becoming more aggressive in the late stages - has brought him 13 successive victories.

But Lewis believes Klitschko will need to be more adjustable against Haye, who the Ukrainian concedes represents his toughest test to date.

"Sometimes in boxing you have to react - is he able to? If you look at his history, no," Lewis told Sky Sports. "I think David may try and leap at him when he's cold and try and find him on the chin."

Meanwhile, four-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield has warned Haye that a repeat of the tactics he employed against Nikolai Valuev, when he fought on the back foot and landed with sporadic flurries, will not be enough to conquer Klitschko.

"We all know David is quick but he has to make his hand speed dictate the fight," Holyfield told the Daily Mail. "It won't be enough to dart in and out for one pot shot here and there, the way he did against Valuev.

"Once he slips and slides inside that long jab he has to stay there a while and let go with body shots and combinations. If Wladimir grabs and holds every time a lot will depend on the referee, but whatever happens he can't one-hit and run all night.

"There's a lot of talk about both of them being chinny but neither of them is going to knock out the other with one big shot. That's not how it goes."

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