Wladimir Klitschko Vs David Haye: THE RESULTS

By Geno McGahee

Wladimir Klitschko, 56-3, 49 KO’s, picked up the WBA Title to add to his IBO, IBF, and WBO Titles with a dominant 12 round decision win over David Haye, 25-2, 21 KO’s, by scores of 118-108, 117-109, and 116-110.

The prefight pageantry with former champions George Foreman and Lennox Lewis along with the fireworks and special effects were a lot more impressive then what happened inside the ring. From the opening round, Wlad pursued and Haye retreated, and that pattern was the entire fight. Both men were incredibly cautious, but Wlad pushed the fight and that was the difference. Haye never blitzed, which was part of his key to victory.

There were times when Haye would land but he never got the reaction he wanted and vice versa. This was your typical Wlad fight where the opponent never took a chance. They were too afraid of what would hit them in return and Wlad’s imposing nature really was a huge factor in this fight. When Haye walked to the ring, he had a smirk on his face, and it wasn’t a good sign. It reminded me of when Bruce Seldon took on Mike Tyson and had a grin on his face as he walked to the ring. As George Foreman said: “They are whistling through the graveyard.”

I had initially sensed some fear from Haye during the face to face when he began talking about the fight heating up. Wlad is a very scary guy and the bravado from Haye wasn’t all true. Like every other recent opponent for Klitschko, Haye was intimidated and fought scared and that cost him. He never took the chance to win.

The fight resembled the Haye-Valuev fight, but Haye’s tactics there would never work with a complete fighter like Wlad. It really was a fight for survival and he did survive.

Now all the belts belong to the Klitschko family and the hope is that Tomasz Adamek will give Vitali Klitschko, the WBC Champ, a better fight then Haye was able to muster against Wlad. It was a major disappointment in Germany and for boxing.