Do you give Haye a reasonable shot at beating Wlad?

[nomadman]

I think a lot of people are going to be very surprised when Haye lands a clean shot and Wlad shrugs it off. Wlad's bad chin issues are massively overstated and as has been mentioned he's never actually been knocked unconscious or counted out. I'm not claiming that he's Oliver McCall but it seems clear to me that most posters hold one of two images of Wlad: willowy beanpole Wlad who wilts under a stiff breeze, and the actual one that fights in the ring. Those who hold the first image constantly bet against him or make ludicrous statements like: "all it takes is one punch from Rahman/Peter/Brewster and Wlad is getting KTFO." Needless to say, they haven't been right for six years and I don't expect that excellent record to change any time soon. Wlad isn't unbeatable of course, no one is, but you don't get to 55-3-0 with a chin made of wet papier mache, I don't care who you fight. Haye's puncher's chance is slimmer than people think.

[nomadman]

Holyfield beat Bowe, Haye can beat Klitasckho. but its unlikely to happend

Two problems with that post:

1. Haye isn't Holyfield, and

2. HAYE ISN'T HOLYFIELD!!!!

[prinzemanspopa]

Holyfield beat Bowe, Haye can beat Klitasckho. but its unlikely to happend

Holyfield is one of the greatest fighters of the last thirty years.In his 12th fight,he was going to war and beating the elite and experienced Dwight Muhammad Qawi.At around that point in his career,Haye was going to war and getting clobbered by a 40 year old Carl Thompson.

[Pirao]

Holyfield beat Bowe, Haye can beat Klitasckho. but its unlikely to happend

Lol, comparing Haye to Holyfield? 46 year Holyfield beat Valuev more convincingly than Haye did, fact.

[Drunk Punch]

Haye has huge power. Any HW will feel it if he lands clean. I'd be interested to see Wlad just shrug it off.

[nomadman]

Haye has huge power. Any HW will feel it if he lands clean. I'd be interested to see Wlad just shrug it off.

Haye has decent power, but it's the sort of power like Mosley's that requires him to set his feet before he unloads. When he lunges in, as he frequently does, he takes a lot of sting off his punches. Wlad won't let him set his feet, obviously, so any shots he does land will likely be glancing or lack steam. But you don't need to speculate. If you want to see a hard hitting heavy land cleanly on Wlad check out the first round of his last fight. Peter catches him with a solid left hook at around the 2:00 mark.

[Jimbo16031992]

The interesting thing for me in this fight is seeing what Wlad is like when he has to take it up a gear or 2, see how good this guy really can be, Haye has very little chance for me, but can at least make an interesting fight, something HW division has been crying out for, Adamek could also make a decent fight of it.

[Jim Jeffries]

Haye has huge power. Any HW will feel it if he lands clean. I'd be interested to see Wlad just shrug it off.

He had pretty good power at CW. At HW I can't see any evidence whatsoever that he has huge power and I've seen all of his fights there.

[nomadman]

The interesting thing for me in this fight is seeing what Wlad is like when he has to take it up a gear or 2, see how good this guy really can be, Haye has very little chance for me, but can at least make an interesting fight, something HW division has been crying out for, Adamek could also make a decent fight of it.

If he fights in his customary style he won't have to take up a gear. Haye really poses very little threat to this current version of Wlad.

[shade darkar]

id say he has a decent chance against wlad, but only if he steps his game up a little bit. the pre fight hype will be better than the fight i suspect, wlad is the most boring fighter on the planet, and haye didnt throw hardly anything against audley either. i think haye stands little chance of beating vitali.