Friday 1 July 2011 20:09, UK
The Panel agree that David Haye's best bet of victory is to go on the offensive, from the off on Saturday night.
David has to go on the attack, say The Panel
The Panel are back to break down the big oneHaye v Klitschko is the biggest fight boxing has seen for years. It brings together two world heavyweight champions and three world titles and has been the talk of the sport since it was made. Fighters past and present have been giving their predictions and the Sky Sports Box Office HD team are no different. But before Jim Watt, Barry McGuigan, Glenn McCrory and Johnny Nelson take their place at the Imtech Arena, we have got them to dissect everything we've seen. And with fight night almost upon us, the boys break down just what David Haye needs to do to win... It's time to talk tactics. There is a school of thought that Haye's best bet is to go out there and attack from the off. Tell us what you would be planning if you were in his corner tomorrow night?
JOHNNY: I'm with that. I think David Haye will go out to get him, jump on him, upset him. He is already the bad guy, the villain in all this and I think he should carry that on. I would fight dirty, even prepare to have a poin taken off for hitting low, do anything he can inside and on the blindside to annoy Klitschko. Klitschko is like a robot, he sticks to a gameplan and does it very well, but if one card comes down, they all come tumbling after it. David has to make him angry, knock him out of his stride. He likes to be in control, as he has told us, so messing him up mentally has to be the way to go.
JIM: If Klitschko does take control of the fight it's so difficult to get him out of that mode. Everyone says he has not fought anybody, but he has - it's just he's been head and shoulders above them. But he's never seen any with the speed of David Haye. Every opponent, because of his chin, has had the power to knock him out, but none have hat that speed. That combination is what makes David such a dangerous opponent - and makes him winning this fight a very realistic possibility.
GLENN: David has the speed to get past that jab and hit Klitschko with three or four punches - and that's what he's got to do. The speed is key here because we have seen Wladimir deal with big lumbering heavyweights for years and he has nailed the lot of them. And don't get me wrong, if Klitschko gets into that rhythm he will just wear David down, systematically dismantle him and then, you are looking another of those trademark late stoppages.
BARRY: The only way he can win this is to actually take the fight to Klitschko, cut the ring down, take two or three steps, then jab with him. He has to try and take his jab away because that's the one pulverising thing Wladimir has. If he can jab with him it will stop Klitschko firing off that right hand; it also keeps him occupied stops him thinking what he can do next. He almost puts you in a concussive state with it and once he's got you in that stage he fires over that right hand like lightning and he knocks you out.
JOHNNY: Getting inside that jab is the problem. Klitschko keeps popping it out, takes it down to the body and then drags it back up, but the one thing David has more than any of Wladimir's previous opponents is speed. He is quciker than Corrie Sanders and he is quick enough to get past that long arm and he has to find his way inside it. If he steps back he is immediately giving his man ground and that is asking for trouble. If David steps back and then comes in he is leaving himself open to that big uppercut, so his plan has to be to slip inside it then let his shots go, even with the backhand.
BARRY: Haye has to push this guy back from the word go. He has to mastermind an approach where he controls this fight from the off, where he takes the centre of the ring. What Klitschko will do is try and grab command of that centre because it gives him two or three steps to the left of the right and he won't be thrown back to the ropes where Haye can come in and throw combinations. It is absolutely crucial that he takes the centre of the ring, so he can jab with Klitschko once, jabs with him twice and then he comes in with the right - and then he can put his combinations together because Klitschko will have nowhere to go because his back's on the ropes. But then he has to get out, as Johnny says. Does he spin right or left? If he spins right he walks onto a left hook, if he spins left that right hand is waiting.
JIM: There's two ways David can go about it. He can take his time, be cagey, try and draw Klitschko forward, then punish him. The problem with that is that if he allows him to get in the driving seat, he is very, very tough to shift. Or like the others say, take the bull by the horns and go looking for the opportunities, rather than wait for them to come along. He knows he's got the power to knock Klitschko out, we know he's got the power to knock Klitschko out and Klitschko knows it too. The good thing for Haye is he knows exactly what Klitschko is going to do. That's not going to change. He won't take any chances or break out of his shell no matter how many insults are thrown his way, or how many mobile phone games are made. He will still be careful and in fact, he might be more careful than usual. Why? Because this is the fight he will be remembered for and if Haye knocks him out it will completely tarnish his career.
GLENN: Klitschko does things one way. If he does come out reckless, trying to take Haye's head off, David wins all night long. So he will just do the same methodical thing, try and take the centre of the ring. David can't afford to buzz around or try and lure him in, flitting in and out - he needs to go beserk from the start, pitch it all on a quick knockout. It is a gamble but I think he and Adam Booth are both smart enough to realise that. I think he'll do what he did with Audley, not throw a thing for the first couple and then explode, get right into him and get him out of there.
JOHNNY: I know what Glenn's saying but I don't think he can just go in there like that. He also has to, on his way in, try and tease the shots out of Wladimir, so he can slip them, then jump in with two, threem, four shots. We have seen so many other guys try and take Klitschko out with one big, single shot and we know it doesn't work. David needs to hurt him when he can as often as he can because it is a big risk getting past that jab; if he gets it wrong by a fraction of a second, he'll get picked off for sure.
BARRY: No matter whether you think he will go backwards or forwards in this fight - and you do toss it over in your mind - there is only one way David Haye can win this fight: he's got to go at Klitschko. The only way he can win this fight is to actually take the fight to Klitschko, cut the ring down, take two or three steps, then jab with him. He has to try and take his jab away because that's the one pulverising thing Wladimir has. If he can jab with him it will stop Klitschko firing off that right hand; it also keeps him occupied stops him thinking what he can do next.
JIM: We don't really know about David's stamina, but we do know Klitschko is a great boxer and a great athlete. If Haye decides to frustrate him, moves around him and makes him work, he will probably have to fall behind on the scorecards and you don't want to be doing that, because you can't be sure of knocking him out late. And that's certainly too big a risk to take.
GLENN: I would love David to pull it off, I really would. And I do think he's got a real, real chance if he does jump on him, catch him by surprise and upset the rhythm. It will need to be spectacular, but one thing we know anything about David Haye it is that he does spectacular and he does it very well. But if he gets it wrong, he'll just be ground down like the rest of them.
