Carl Thompson Beat Haye, Says Klitschko Will Too
By Mark Vester
Carl Thompson, the only fighter to beat David Haye, is giving his former foe a 50-50 chance to beat WBO/IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko on June 20 in Germany. Thompson was stunned early on but came back to stops Haye in their 2004 meeting at Wembley Arena. He, like many others, believes that Haye is too small to beat the much bigger champion.
"I give him a 50-50 chance, but it could all come down to size," Thompson told M.E.N Sport. "Is Haye big enough? That is the question. And I think the answer is that he is too small. I think Klitschko will keep him off and David will be surprised at how awkward it is to get near the man and land his punches."
"I don't know how big David can go, but I would have thought 16stone would be his upper limit. There is no doubt Haye has the ability to prove me wrong, and I hope he does but if I had to pick one above the other it would have to be Klitschko."
Thompson said that his win over Haye was easy. He couldn't believe how simple it was to break Haye down and put him away.
"What I remember about our fight was that it was so easy," smiled Thompson. "I couldn't believe I could break him down so quickly. He obviously hadn't seen any of my career, because I don't go over that easy. I remember smiling at him at one stage and I knew I had broken him."
He says Haye took too many shortcuts on the road to the heavyweight title by not establishing himself at the weight.
"Some people jump these days are jumping the queue without first establishing themselves as heavyweights, and that is wrong. Boxing needs to be more real. Down at lightweight we have seen Amir Khan getting a world title shot without jumping the hurdles, and that is all wrong."
"People who take the right route through the British and European titles can say they have beaten the man, and that makes them credible champions. David probably needed a few more fights against fighters like me to develop his ring craft. He is not battle-hardened, and because there is no one in that cruiserweight division, he has moved up. I could still whup those cruiserweights, because it is a dead division.
"Full marks to David because he has seen a gap and dived in there. There is not a lot in the heavyweight division either, apart from the two Klitschkos and the big Russian guy Nikolay Valuev."
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