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After three years of talking and postponements the heavyweight unification fight we all want to see is finally taking place at the magnificent Immtech Arena in Hamburg.
60,000 fight fans will at long last see WBA champion David Haye take on the WBO and IBF Champion Wladimir Klitschko in arguably the biggest heavyweight fight in a decade.
This is the Hayemaker’s third title defence. After defeating the giant Nikolay Valuev back in November 2009 Haye has dispatched challengers John Ruiz and Audley Harrison in convincing fashion.
In all, this Hayes sixth fight in the heavyweight ranks. A former cruiserweight world champion he travelled to France in 2007 to defeat veteran Jean Marc Mormeck in seven rounds to win the title.
Only one defence would follow when he crushed domestic rival Enzo Maccarinelli in two rounds to unify the title.
For Haye, it’s all about the big fights now. Vowing to retire on his 31st birthday, he wants to box both Klitschko brothers to try and clean up the division.
In Wladimir Klitschko, Haye meets a man four years his senior and a 1996 Olympic Super Heavyweight gold medallist. A two time champion, he has taken on and beaten the best in the heavyweight division, such as Lamon Brewster, Ray Mercer, Chris Byrd,Hasim Rahman, Ruslan Chagaev and Sultan Ibragimov.
What makes this one of the most interesting fights in the heavyweight division is the bad blood between the two men. For the last three years Haye has tried to goad Klitschko into the ring by either badmouthing or wearing some dubious t-shirts. What also makes this interesting is that both men can be hit and hurt.
Haye’s only defeat came back in 2004 at cruiserweight when after a bright start against veteran former champion Carl Thompson he ran out of gas before being stopped in the fifth. Klitschko on the other hand has been down a staggering 11 times in his pro career and his three pro defeats have all been by stoppage.
So its third time lucky tonight after previous efforts for Haye to share the ring with both Klitschkos fell through. So what happens tonight?
For Haye to be successful, I feel he will need to structure his attacks like he did with the giant Valuev. Klitschko has never met anyone with Haye’s speed and power. Make no mistake, Haye has the ability to end this early. For Wladimir to be effective he will need to establish his strong jab and try and maintain the rhythm that makes him so dangerous as the fight wears on.
This is a winnable fight for both boxers and even on the day of the fight I’m struggling to pick a winner. If Haye can land early there’s a possibility he could overwhelm his rival. He also has underrated boxing skills and could also outbox his bigger opponent. Klitschko could also control the fight with the big jab and stop Haye with a booming right.
It’s a tough one to pick but I feel Klitschko could be the one to come out on top by mid to late rounds stoppage by halting Haye’s onward attacks with punishing counters.
