David Haye has just been soundly beaten by Wladimir Klitschko but it wasn’t much of a fight. It was a bit of a lesson for how a massive bloke with long arms can keep a shorter mobile bloke at bay. Klitschko was too good at his play, long jabs and moving back, it wasn’t very interesting. Haye could have done better if he’d been more aggressive but, he left it until the final round when the fight was well lost on points.

For me the most effective shorter fighter when fighting bigger opponents was Tyson. Now this doesn’t apply to the washed out version who lost to Lennox Lewis but the early years version. Full of aggression, elusive entry and massive power. Of course, Haye is not like Tyson was in terms of the way he fights, his style is more countering than flat out attack. If he’d watched and adopted Tyson’s peekaboo style he’d certainly have had a better chance of getting nearer the target – Klitschko’s head. Instead Haye ducked, weaved and floundered on the outside, he didn’t get caught a lot but he didn’t throw enough punches and so he wasn’t scoring points and that is why he lost.

Haye’s attempts at getting close enough to hit the notably mobile lump, certainly more mobile in comparison to Haye’s Championship winning opponent Nikolai Valuev, weren’t good enough. He would lunge forward or jump in, throwing a big overhand right, barely ever punching in combinations. It was the wrong strategy, most likely based on his success against Valuev but as well as being over 2 stone heavier and much taller Klitschko was also too mobile and simply too much of a polished boxer. Haye was a Cruiserweight and won a world title at that weight and so he is a very small heavyweight, there has only been one successful step up from Cruiserweight champ to Heavywieght champ and I’m afraid Haye isn’t in the same class as Holyfield.

A more aggressive Haye, with a competent entry strategy may have pulled off a win, he is a good boxer with powerful punches. Of course it would’ve been a risk to really go after Klitschko, he may well have been taken out early but it would’ve made for a better spectacle. With the odds stacked against him Haye should have come up with something to put Klitschko under pressure, take him out of his comfort zone, instead his strategy allowed Klitschko to use his natural size advantage and so it wasn’t really much of a performance from Haye.

I ‘ve just found this clip from a boxing show where they provide several ideas on what Haye should have done. It’s from before the fight but is an interesting little video nevertheless. Haye didn’t really do anything like the tips put forward by the experts, or those that I suggest above. It may be that Klitschko’s mobility was a bit of a surprise to Haye but whatever the reason – it may have even been a toe problem – he didn’t get close enough to worry Klitschko.

Originally posted 2011-07-03 01:42:15. Republished by Blog Post Promoter