Haye/Klit...Could we see a repeat??

Hi Guys,

I see Haye/Klit build up has taken over the boards and im loving the banter. I really dont know which way to turn in this fight. We have a banger in Haye and a controlled 'no thrills' fighter in Wlad. Picking a winner is tough but I realise alot of people kneeling towards Haye based on his recent thrash talk and his explosive style.

Such build up has got me thinking about the pre-fight build up between Tyson v Lewis. Far fetched but a relevant comparison in terms of many aspects especially previous opponents heading into the fight.

I just want to know 'honestly' who backed Tyson to beat Lewis based on his pre-fight hype that were currently seeing in Haye??

And who thinks a similar one sided beating is going to be handed to Haye?

The Blade

I did not give Tyson any chance of beating Lewis and to be honest I backed him to lose to Holyfield in their first fight if he could not knock Evander out in a couple of rounds.

Getting back to now, my reason for leaning towards Haye is his natural killer instinct but the one thing I will say it won't be a close fight no matter who wins. Wlad will either come and be the dominant heavyweight Steward wants him to be and punishes Haye for a mid rounds knock out or Haye jumps on him fast gets the job done early.

A lot of people might also disagree with my next point as I think there could be a chance that Wlad freezes on the night. Every Wlad/Vitali fight in Germany is a big occasion, but he has never been in a big 50/50 (or even 60/40) fight where he could actually lose as all his defeats were big upsets. Yes he is the betting favourite and rightly so but all of his fights have been more of social event rather than a big even money fight. The only thing that comes close on his resume would be his first fight with Sam Peter.

On the other hand Haye had the Mormeck fight (in which he was a big underdog), the unification fight with Enzo Mac which a lot of people picked Haye to lose and of course the giant Valuev where once again Haye was also the underdog. Although he has had less fights Haye has more what I consider big fight (and I mean the fight itself is competitive at least on paper) experience.

All of Haye's pre fight posturing in recent years has been to get Wlad in the ring for the largest amount of money possible but also with the confidence that he could actually win the fight. For me, Tyson knew he had no chance of beating Lewis and he and handlers knew Mike had very little left, (hence why he never won another fight) and he he was practically begging for a rematch in the post interviews even though he had suffered a one sided beating.

I dont think the comparisons are quite there because there was a huge gap between peak years between Lewis and Tyson.

Lewis was a couple of years outside his best arguably but Tyson was closer to 15/20 years from his best. He had lost so much in speed, movement and motivation that the fight was really stacked to Lewis.

With Haye v Klitschko you have two guys much closer to their best. Wlad is probably as good as hes ever been and Haye is far fresher and motivated than Tyson was for the Lewis fight.

I you had Lewis and Tyson peak v peak then it would be a genuine tough fight to call with the odds very tight in the bookies.

With Haye v Klitschko both guys are going into it with their reputations and form at a peak.

mikeymax71 wrote:I did not give Tyson any chance of beating Lewis and to be honest I backed him to lose to Holyfield in their first fight if he could not knock Evander out in a couple of rounds.

Getting back to now, my reason for leaning towards Haye is his natural killer instinct but the one thing I will say it won't be a close fight no matter who wins. Wlad will either come and be the dominant heavyweight Steward wants him to be and punishes Haye for a mid rounds knock out or Haye jumps on him fast gets the job done early.

A lot of people might also disagree with my next point as I think there could be a chance that Wlad freezes on the night. Every Wlad/Vitali fight in Germany is a big occasion, but he has never been in a big 50/50 (or even 60/40) fight where he could actually lose as all his defeats were big upsets. Yes he is the betting favourite and rightly so but all of his fights have been more of social event rather than a big even money fight. The only thing that comes close on his resume would be his first fight with Sam Peter.

On the other hand Haye had the Mormeck fight (in which he was a big underdog), the unification fight with Enzo Mac which a lot of people picked Haye to lose and of course the giant Valuev where once again Haye was also the underdog. Although he has had less fights Haye has more what I consider big fight (and I mean the fight itself is competitive at least on paper) experience.

All of Haye's pre fight posturing in recent years has been to get Wlad in the ring for the largest amount of money possible but also with the confidence that he could actually win the fight. For me, Tyson knew he had no chance of beating Lewis and he and handlers knew Mike had very little left, (hence why he never won another fight) and he he was practically begging for a rematch in the post interviews even though he had suffered a one sided beating.

That's a good point about Wlad not really having been in a fight where people are picking against him, I'm not sure whether it's a reflection of how good he has been over the last few years or how bad the heavyweight division has been. It will be interesting to see how he reacts to the occasion come fight night, whereas Haye is no stranger to the situation he's in being an underdog and fighting away from home.

I have always wholeheartedly believed Lewis wouldve beaten Tyson at any stage of Tysons career. Taller, rangier, stronger, equally as powerful, good jab which Tyson struggled with and dynamite uppercut - a horrible punch for the short Tyson to cope with. I certainly didn't give a shot Tyson a cat in hells chance of beating Lewis.

No comparison really.....Sweetie..

Think after Holy we all knew Tyson was on the slide and Lewis at the top of his game..

Haye is as close to peak as he's ever going to get....

picked Lewis to win........

I wanted Tyson to win but quickly realised it was only a matter of time, i'd say this fight is as big as Vitali/Lewis but not Tyson/Lewis

Both Haye and Wlad are at their peaks IMO so no repeat.

My prediction: I think Wlad will make it an utterly dull fight by keeping the fight at range with his jab until someone unexpectedly stops the other guy in the mid to late rounds.

A mid to late 80's Tyson would have been truly horrible for Lewis imo. It would be interesting to know if Lewis would have kept hime at bay or if Tysons movement, go forward & victimising hook would have got through, which if so you'r think would have been more than enough for Lewis's lights out. Very speculative though.

There are similarities in that Wlad will likely revert to type & go for a measured jab whereas Haye at some point is going to have to get in & hit if he's gonna get near to a result. I really do hope Haye gets some big shots off & finishes Wlad in style but i get a bad feeling that it may be a borefest with a Wlad ud.

That is kind of where I am who, think from Wlad'sperspective tactically it will very much be a case of if it ain't broke why fix it. Whatever people think of his style aesthetically the last seven years have proven it works extremely well for him. Whilst I personally think Wlad will stop him late from the perspective of the fight having drama like yourself my one wish is that Haye is able to detonate at least one big shot on his whiskers. I have really warmed to Wlad of late and think he deserves a lot more respect than he gets and if he can take a shot off Haye and survive this may give people cause to reassess where they stand on him, although obviously it would also give Haye his best chance of victory

I personally think Haye is in for a hiding, but would be extremely happy to be proven wrong. To win, Haye cannot wait for 3 rounds to get going. He has to take the fight away from Wlad from round 1. I just do not see him doing this!

Mccall was Tyson's sparring partner and he had a chance with Lewis...

in the 90's..

Lewis/Tyson was just a pay day for Tyson who was well/well past his best, the Haye/Wlad fight is much more of an even contest but I'm 99% sure Wlad will make a mess of Haye, I'm not even that sure that Wlad won't be looking to do some serious damage ...just to make a point... instead of grinding it out as usual.

lightsout wrote:Lewis/Tyson was just a pay day for Tyson who was well/well past his best, the Haye/Wlad fight is much more of an even contest but I'm 99% sure Wlad will make a mess of Haye, I'm not even that sure that Wlad won't be looking to do some serious damage ...just to make a point... instead of grinding it out as usual.

Contradict yourself there by saying it's more of an even contest but you're 99% sure Wlad will 'make a mess of Haye'. Personally I'm not gonna be surprised if Haye pulls the upset. His self belief is quite astonishing, and while it could be easily misplaced I think he's probably having less doubts than Wlad.

Vlad's chin and Haye's speed makes 99% sound a crass overexaggeration..

That's what I thought. I'm looking forward to this fight quite a lot. Big ask of Haye but IF he can rattle Wlad I think it's his for the taking. Long time since Wlad was shaken, but I don't think his response will be all that different. Going backwards Wlad looks like a scared girl.

I see it as 60/40 in wlads favour. I say that because he is the more experienced HW, bigger and stronger with a style that is proven hard to beat over a long period. But I'm going to contradict myself here because I've said all along that haye would beat him because he possesses the kind of speed, power and self belief that wlad hasn't come up against during his reign. Haye is very smart and supremely confident, and I don't think it's misplaced - he knows he has the tools for the job, it's just whether he can execute his gameplan effectively enough when the moment comes. I'm sticking with my pick for a haye stoppage, but it really is a very hard fight to call and I guess that's why we're all looking forward to it so much.

Nobody has thought of the possibility that Haye makes Wlad look cumbersome and silly...not playing devil's avocado ,honestly, but I think it is possible that Wlad will just not be able to boss him around with the jab as most presume.
Haye will be confident that he is going to stick to his avoid-the-jab tactic.Not sure the Ruiz fight is even a good yardstick either.Different tactic, you see.He could afford to eat a few off Ruiz who was nobody's idea of a hard man.
Having said that, it's a real "pick 'em" (-I love saying that-).Keep coming back to a gut instinct for a Haye win, despite the track records and apparent lack of logic of it.
No, I don't think Haye is ever going to be an ATG, however, I am just not sold on the idea that Wlad's jab makes him an ATG either. Wlad reminds me of what Foreman said about Moorer- ie., the guy just doesn't like fighting..

Yeah there's a sense that Haye is the much more natural 'fighter' of the two, and that if Wlad finds himself in a 'fight' rather than simply a boxing match, it could turn interesting.