SportsRatings: Boxing/MMA

Fury Beats Chisora, Jumps Into Top 10: How Far Can He Go?

Tyson Fury outlasted Dereck Chisora last night in London, winning a clear decision that was unanimous on the judges scorecards. Fury, who ranked #44 in the SportsRatings Heavyweight Boxing Top 100 will move into the top ten in the August rankings. Chisora, who held the #7 position, will fall out of the top 25.

Preview: SportsRatings Heavyweight Boxing Top 100 August Rankings

July Rank	August Rank	Fighter	Rating	Rated Record	July results
1	1	WLAD KLITSCHKO	67.17	34-3-0	UD 12 #4 DAVID HAYE
2	2	VITALI KLITSCHKO	43.67	24-2-0
3	3	ALEX POVETKIN	31.48	16-0-0
5	4	RUSLAN CHAGAEV	26.66	13-1-0
6	5	TOMASZ ADAMEK	22.16	5-0-0
8	6	EDDIE CHAMBERS	20.07	14-2-0
9	7	ONDREJ PALA	19.73	8-0-0
10	8	ROBERT HELENIUS	19.61	7-0-0
4	9	DAVID HAYE	19.41	5-1-0	L UD 12 #1 WLAD KLITSCHKO
44	10	TYSON FURY	19.04	5-0-0	UD 12 #7 DEREK CHISORA

Fury's ranking, no doubt, is the result of a string of inflation that started when Sam Sexton beat Martin Rogan twice. That made Sexton an overrated fighter in the top ten, and when Chisora beat him, "Del Boy" was ranked higher than he deserved. Now Fury replaces Chisora in the top ten and is similarly several spots too high. Should he really be considered ahead of the likes of Tony Thompson, Chris Arreola, and David Tua? Would he have a chance to beat any of them at this point?

Interestingly, the move will put Fury just behind David Haye, who falls to #9 after losing to Wladimir Klitschko, and making him the #2 fighter in all of the U.K. Fury has already said he will not be taking the challenge to fight a Klitschko for the title, as he quite wisely has said he isn't ready for that yet at age 23. But what should his next move be? Is he perhaps ready to take on David Haye to prove he's the top fighter in the U.K.?

Though Fury won the British and Commonwealth titles, most would say he probably isn't ready for a challenge like Haye. For his part, Haye may or may not even fight again, particularly if he keeps his promise to retire on his 31st birthday in October. In any case, a battle with Haye is unlikely and probably not in Fury's best interests.

A more realistic matchup, and one that would generate nearly as much interest, would be Fury against David Price. Price is the 4th ranked UK fighter in the top 100, following Haye, Fury, and Chisora, and the fight would be a true battle of UK giants as both men stand over two meters tall. Many would favor Price in the contest, as he looked impressive against yet another giant, Tom Dallas, in a 2-round KO win. He also has much more experience than Fury.

But such a fight need not be made hastily. Fury will probably take several lower-profile fights to defend his titles before stepping back up again, and that would be a wise decision for the young boxer. There is no need to rush things. Though he has clearly improved since his early days years ago—when he famously punched himself in the face during a bout—he still has a lot to practice. Getting in the ring right away with Price, or Haye—or certainly, Klitschko—wouldn't be a prudent course of action.

Eventually, however, he'll be challenging names bigger than his own. How far will he go? Does he realistically have hope of one day being the heavyweight champion of the world?

Based on his current talent level, we're tempted to say no. Though he won convincingly (117-112 on two cards, and 118-111 on the other) he didn't really dominate Chisora, and was hurt several times, particularly in the 2nd round. Add to that the fact that Chisora weighed 261 pounds for the fight, and isn't a world-beater himself, and this fight was really only mildly impressive for a man that had an 8-inch height advantage.

But if we take a longer-term view, everything can change. Fury's improvement just over the last few years suggests that when he peaks—which could be 7-10 years from now—he'll be quite good indeed. And be that time the Klitschkos will probably both be retired, which opens up the picture quite a bit. There are few prospects of Fury's age and accomplishment around; only Germany's Edmund Gerber comes to mind, and he's nearly a half-foot shorter. Fury could become champion one day if he continues to improve and waits out Wladimir.

As for Chisora, it's hard to say what he might do. British heavyweights tend to hang on a long time if Audley Harrison, Matt Skelton, and Michael Sprott are any indication. Only 27, Chisora already looked washed up against Fury, and the fact that he came in out of shape for the biggest fight of his life—one that would have guaranteed him a title shot—doesn't bode well for his future. Chisora has the physique (6'1", 250+) and the mental instability (he bit Paul Butlin during one match) that suggests steroids use. He appears much older than his age and given that many fighters don't handle their first loss well, there's no guarantee Chisora will mount another run at the top ten. His title shot with Wladimir Klitschko, already cancelled twice, won't be offered up any time soon.

Saturday's fight was definitely a fork in the road for both fighters. Fury's career got a big boost, one that if managed correctly could lead to greatness one day; while Chisora's stock plummeted, and he has his work cut out for him if he wants to revitalize his career.

After Trouncing Haye, Does Wladimir Klitschko Belong in the All-Time Top 10?

Now the hype is over, and a fight that appeared to be interesting for several rounds lulled into another anticlimactic affair. Wladimir Klitschko emerged victorious yet again and further cemented his position at the top of the heavyweight division.

But where should he rank on the all-time list of heavyweight boxers? There seem to be two schools of though, as polarized as the opinions about both Klitschko brothers.

On one hand you have those who think that the heavyweight division is depleted and shallow, perhaps at an all-time low. With no sound competition, it's only natural that one (or two) decent fighters dominate the scene, even if they would be B-level fighters in any other era. Citing Wladimir's three embarrassing knockout losses to less-than-great fighters, they argue that he doesn't belong in the all-time top 50.

Others, however, point to Wladimir's complete dominance of his title fights recently, wherein he has nearly pitched shutouts across the board. Other respected heavies (Holmes and Tyson, for example, in the 80s, and even Louis and Marciano) spent the majority of their reigns beating fighters that don't show up on anyone's all-time best lists. Wladimir has been unchallenged for over half a decade, which ranks with the best. Further, they argue, boxing has never seen the likes of the Klitschkos, who are super-heavies and size and height, and with their weight and reach advantage, they could arguably beat any fighter who ever lived; perhaps, then, Wladimir Klitschko should be at or near #1 on the all-time list.

By our all-time rankings formula, Wladimir Klitschko has moved—for the first time—into the top ten. His five-year string of wins over top ten foes has helped him amass enough points to pass the likes of George Foreman, Sonny Liston, and Jersey Joe Walcott in the last year.

SportsRatings All-Time Heavyweight Top 10 (click here for full Top 500)

1 year ago	All-time Rank	Fighter	Peak Rating	Rated Record	Peak rating date & highest-rated win
1	1	MUHAMMAD ALI	110.04	47-5-0	peak rating: 9/1977  win: 9/1978 UD 15 #42 LEON SPINKS
2	2	ROCKY MARCIANO	108.81	29-0-0	peak rating: 9/1955  win: 9/1952 KO 13 #10 JERSEY JOE WALCOT
3	3	JOE LOUIS	107.10	59-3-0	peak rating: 3/1942  win: 6/1938 KO 1 #21 MAX SCHMELING
4	4	LARRY HOLMES	94.29	45-6-0	peak rating: 5/1985  win: 10/1980 KO 11 #1 MUHAMMAD ALI
5	5	MIKE TYSON	89.02	34-6-0	peak rating: 7/1989  win: 6/1988 KO 1 #19 MICHAEL SPINKS
6	6	EZZARD CHARLES	84.04	58-23-0	peak rating: 5/1951  win: 9/1950 UD 15 #3 JOE LOUIS
7	7	LENNOX LEWIS	80.58	33-2-1	peak rating: 11/2000  win: 11/1999 UD 12 #13 EVANDER HOLYFIELD
8	8	ARCHIE MOORE	80.51	86-12-5	peak rating: 5/1955  win: 8/1954 KO 14 #22 HAROLD JOHNSON
12	9	WLAD KLITSCHKO	80.23	34-3-0	peak rating: 7/2011  win: 6/2009 KO 9 #199 RUSLAN CHAGAEV
9	10	JERSEY JOE WALCOT	79.34	26-17-1	peak rating: 6/1952  win: 7/1951 KO 7 #6 EZZARD CHARLES

Still a long, long way away from reaching Muhammed Ali at the top spot (or #2 Marciano and #3 Louis), Klitschko is within striking distance of reaching the top 5, and could pass Lennox Lewis with another win or two.

No formula, of course, is going to ring "true" in all cases, and in Klitschko's case any ranking, period, is unsatisfying. Without worthy competition, a fighter can't prove he's one of the all-time greats. But dominating in any era should be worth something. What, then, is the best balance?

Klitschko has defeated many of the better fighters of the current era, and without breaking much of a sweat in most cases. But most observers wouldn't rank these fighters very highly on an all-time scale, and our system bears this out. Here is a look at Wladimir's career and the contemporary (time of fight) and all-time ranking for each opponent:

 Date        Result         Rankings   Opponent
 12/1998: LOSS by KO   to   #101 #1051 ROSS PURITTY    
 05/1999: Win  by KO  over  #114 #2257 TONY LAROSA     
 09/1999: Win  by KO  over  #84   #590 AXEL SCHULZ     
 11/1999: Win  by KO  over  #201  #499 PHIL JACKSON    
 12/1999: Win  by KO  over  #66  #3050 LAJOS EROS      
 03/2000: Win  by KO  over  #42  #1127 PAEA WOLFGRAMM  
 04/2000: Win  by KO  over  #45   #510 DAVID BOSTICE   
 07/2000: Win  by KO  over  #47   #390 MONTE BARRETT   
 10/2000: Win  by UD  over  #7    #146 CHRIS BYRD      
 03/2001: Win  by KO  over  #113  #713 DERRICK JEFFERSON
 08/2001: Win  by KO  over  #61   #746 CHARLES SHUFFORD
 03/2002: Win  by KO  over  #90   #356 FRANS BOTHA     
 06/2002: Win  by KO  over  #99   #238 RAY MERCER      
 12/2002: Win  by KO  over  #6    #303 JAMEEL MCCLINE  
 03/2003: LOSS by KO   to   #88   #247 CORRIE SANDERS  
 08/2003: Win  by KO  over  #53   #456 FABIO MOLI      
 12/2003: Win  by KO  over  #116  #458 DANELL NICHOLSON
 04/2004: LOSS by KO   to   #75   #321 LAMON BREWSTER  
 10/2004: Win  by TDW over  #16   #317 DAVARL WILLIAMSON
 04/2005: Win  by KO  over  #50  #2558 ELISEO CASTILLO 
 09/2005: Win  by UD  over  #5    #184 SAMUEL PETER    
 04/2006: Win  by KO  over  #2    #146 CHRIS BYRD      
 11/2006: Win  by KO  over  #8    #355 CALVIN BROCK    
 03/2007: Win  by KO  over  #30   #281 RAY AUSTIN      
 07/2007: Win  by KO  over  #17   #321 LAMON BREWSTER  
 02/2008: Win  by UD  over  #9    #601 SULTAN IBRAGIMOV
 07/2008: Win  by KO  over  #7    #196 TONY THOMPSON   
 12/2008: Win  by KO  over  #13    #98 HASIM RAHMAN    
 06/2009: Win  by KO  over  #2    #199 RUSLAN CHAGAEV  
 03/2010: Win  by KO  over  #4    #285 EDDIE CHAMBERS  
 09/2010: Win  by KO  over  #12   #184 SAMUEL PETER    
 07/2011: Win  by UD  over  #4    #697 DAVID HAYE      

As you can see, he has a string of wins over top 10 foes—10 in all counting Haye—but he's beaten only one fighter in the All-Time top 100, Hasim Rahman (who wasn't in the top ten at the time). Further, Klitschko lost to three low-rated fighters, including Ross Puritty who is only #1,051 by our system!

Early losses by fighters tend to be forgiven, and our system concentrates on wins. Klitschko is clearly a different fighter than he was when he lost to Puritty, Sanders, and Brewster. And the all-time rankings of the boxers he's defeated will go up as their careers continue, so Wlad's resumé won't always look so paltry.

Still, it's telling to compare to an era when big matchups were commonplace. When George Foreman beat Joe Frazier, Joltin' Joe was not only ranked #1, but he was already in the all-time top 10. Likewise, Foreman was in the all-time top ten when Ali beat him. Compare that to Wlad's most-hyped fight, where David Haye is not in the top 500, and to his highest-rated win, over all-time #199 Ruslan Chagaev.

Suffice it to say, there's a reason these fights didn't capture the public's imagination like boxing did in the 1970's, and it goes beyond the fact that, to fans the United States, these men are all foreigners (though that plays a part). It also goes beyond the widely-held view that Klitschkos fights aren't very exciting (though that also plays a part). For fans to really be engaged, there has to be competition, and for a fighter to truly earn respect, he needs a worthy foe.

Right now there is only one fighter who could challenge Wladimir Klitschko, and that is his brother Vitali.

It would be a great fight, on par with any in boxing history, but it will never happen. When people debate Wlad's all-time rank, they also debate his current rank, as many feel Vitali is the better boxer. Vitali, however, ranks only #33 on our all-time list. Why? Here's a look at his relevant resumé:

 Date     Result            Rankings   Opponent
 10/1998: Win  by KO  over  #87   #961 MARIO SCHIESSER 
 06/1999: Win  by KO  over  #12   #223 HERBIE HIDE     
 10/1999: Win  by KO  over  #15   #546 ED MAHONE       
 12/1999: Win  by KO  over  #180  #511 OBED SULLIVAN   
 04/2000: LOSS by KO   to   #25   #146 CHRIS BYRD      
 11/2000: Win  by UD  over  #24   #301 TIMO HOFFMAN    
 01/2001: Win  by KO  over  #147  #170 ORLIN NORRIS    
 12/2001: Win  by KO  over  #125 #1051 ROSS PURITTY    
 02/2002: Win  by KO  over  #149 #1719 VAUGHN BEAN     
 11/2002: Win  by KO  over  #37   #187 LARRY DONALD    
 06/2003: LOSS by KO   to   #1      #7 LENNOX LEWIS    
 12/2003: Win  by KO  over  #17   #252 KIRK JOHNSON    
 04/2004: Win  by KO  over  #5    #247 CORRIE SANDERS  
 12/2004: Win  by KO  over  #14   #176 DANNY WILLIAMS  
 10/2008: Win  by KO  over  #3    #184 SAMUEL PETER    
 03/2009: Win  by KO  over  #7    #411 JUAN C GOMEZ    
 09/2009: Win  by KO  over  #6    #225 CHRIS ARREOLA   
 12/2009: Win  by UD  over  #28   #662 KEVIN JOHNSON   
 05/2010: Win  by KO  over  #16   #540 ALBERT SOSNOWSKI
 10/2010: Win  by UD  over  #96   #200 SHANNON BRIGGS  
 03/2011: Win  by KO  over  #10   #681 ODLANIER SOLIS

Two things stand out. One, Vitali has far fewer wins over top 10 opponents (just 5), and two, he took four years off from fighting during his prime. Both of these will do quite a bit of harm to his standing in any algorithmic, point-based system. The level of respect Vitali has from the boxing community—generally greater than that afforded to Wladimir—comes from his loss to all-time great Lennox Lewis, wherein Vitali had Lewis in big trouble before succumbing to a doctor's stoppage. This fight alone overshadows anything else either brother has accomplished.

But in our system, unfortunately, it just goes down as a loss. Without many big wins, and four years off that lowered his peak score due to inactivity, Vitali doesn't measure up to Wlad, even if he may be the better boxer. He doesn't hold a win over anyone ranked in our all-time top 150.

All of this shows how difficult it is to place both brothers in boxing history in an unbiased way. Are they the culmination of decades of refinement of nutrition, technique, and training? Or are they flukes, freaks of nature who would be exposed in a different era? And without these two greats battling each other, how can we tell for sure who deserves to be ranked ahead of the other, let alone against other fighters?

No one has the answer. But in my personal opinion, I think both Klitschkos are all-time greats. Vitali proved himself against Lennox Lewis, and Wladimir has accomplished more in terms of winning than Vitali. Without great competition, I don't know if they'll ever be considered among the very best. Maybe if they fought, the victor could take his place among the Alis, Lewises, and Marcianos of the world, but since that will never happen, the Klitschkos will probably remain a double question mark. Great, but not the greatest.

Klitschko vs. Haye Live Round-by-Round Scoring

#1 Wladimir Klitschko vs. #4 David Haye for the IBF, WBA, WBO, IBO, and SportsRatings Heavyweight title. The bout starts at around 5:15 Eastern time (US), 10:15pm UK time, 11:15pm Hamburg time.

The interesting thing so far is that it's raining pretty heavy in Hamburg, Germany, and the fight is taking place in an outdoor soccer stadium. The canvas is covered right now, so the ring will be dry to start with, but if it keeps raining it won't stay dry long. It's also fairly cold in Hamburg, about 57 degrees F.

The rain is lighter as Haye comes out to the ring. The fight looks like it will start a bit late, maybe closer to 5:30 EST. The huge contingent of British fans is pretty sauced up for the fight, and Haye's bodyguards are having to shove their way through the crowd. The love/hate partisanship from the crowd for Haye is very apparent.

Klitschko for his part has a bizarre intro video featuring Haye, George Foreman, and brother Vitali, enumerating Wladimir's problems with Haye's behavior, shown just before he walks to the ring. Quite a bit of buildup for this fight, no doubt.

The national anthems are playing, so the fight should begin shortly. Introductions are over, the fight is ready to begin.

Round One: Lots of footwork early, both fighters look energetic. Rain is still coming down. Haye so far has avoided Wlad's jab. Klitschko threw Haye to the ground with his glove, no knockdown but a bit of intimidation. Haye's guard is down, taunting Klitschko. Left-right from Haye connects, but then Wlad connects with the jab. Both fighters trade shots, neither hurt. Haye has a lot of head movement, foiling Wlad's jab attempts. Hard round to score; 10-10.

Round Two: Both fighters want to get back into it. Jab by Wlad but Haye ducks the followup right. Both fighters whiffing a lot. Haye backs Klitschko up a few times but Wlad is out of reach as he backs up. Both fighters are staying out of range. Wild right from Haye grazes Klitschko, who continues with the jab. Two lefts from Haye. Big jab and right cross from Wlad; Haye is ok, still full of energy. Klitschko 10-9; overall Klitschko 20-19.

Round Three: Cat and mouse game continues. Wlad is connecting slightly with some jabs as Haye is not moving quite as much. Haye connects with a huge right, stunning Klitschko for a moment. Wlad is trying to re-establish control, gives good left-right combo. Now Wlad is showing a lot of head movement. A couple of rights back up Wlad, who comes back with a huge combo himself with Haye against the ropes. The round ends in a clinch. Another even round 10-10; total: Klitschko 30-29.

Round Four: Excitement continues. Klitschko hard right to Haye's head. Clinch against the ropes. Both showing lots of head movement. Round half over. Haye dodging jabs with just his head, counters with his own jab. Klitschko can't solve Haye's movement, but Haye rarely connecting too. Haye's hands are down, he ducks under Wlad's attack. Haye jumps in with combo that mostly misses. Haye connects at the bell but Klitschko wins another hard to score close round. Klitschko 10-9; total 40-38.

Round Five: Will Haye tire? Moving a bit slower this round. Klitschko moving somewhat slower too. Wlad's jab isn't connecting like it normally does, but with Haye's guard down it gets in now and then. Haye rushes in and clinches, then runs in with wild missing punches. Haye hasn't really connected this round, and Wlad is winning on jabs with 1 minute left. Body shot by Haye. Huge right by Klitschko almost floors Haye! But he recovers. Now Wlad is stalking him, pushes him to the ground. Haye stumbles again near the end. Klitschko 10-9; total: 50-47.

Round Six: How will Haye respond? Wlad looks more confident as he tries to take Haye apart now. Haye needs a big offensive push but he's concentrating on defense and elusiveness. Haye is jabbing at the air now, missing by a lot; he rushes in again and clinches low and falls again. Klitschko is starting to take control even as he still has difficulty connecting. Is Haye's best moment over? Wlad wins an uneventful round. Klitschko 10-9; total 60-56

Round Seven: Wlad backing Haye up. Haye clinches and again is pushed down, and Klitschko has a point deducted! Interesting. Haye complains to the ref again, as he has been doing all fight, about pushes. Little action again this round. Big right by Klischko misses as Haye dodges again. Left by Haye. Haye did little this round but get pushed down, making this round a draw. 9-9; Klitschko: 69-65

Round Eight: Jabs from Klitschko are connecting; Haye is still dancing though. Haye is having every fighter's frustration with hitting Wlad, as he rushes in, Wlad jumps back. Left cross by Haye misses, Wlad's jabs whiff as well. The punchstats will be interesting. Another slip by Haye, as the canvas is probably fairly wet by now. Haye needs to make something happen but can't do it, he wraps up with Wlad and punches him in the back. Klitschko 10-9; total: 79-74

Round Nine: Wlad is probably well ahead on the scorecards by now; Haye needs to come up with something while Wlad needs to step it up to get a KO, as Haye is still full of life. Decent shot by Haye, Wlad rolls with it and backs up, Haye doesn't follow. Right by Wlad, as he seems to be trying to lure Haye in. Combo by Klitschko with the round half over. Yet another slip/pushdown by Haye. Fighters trade in the last minute, Haye looks angry, they brawl at the end. Still Klitschko's round however. 10-9; total: 89-83.

Round Ten: Right by Klitschko as Haye's reply whiffs. Looks at the ref again, something about Wlad using the inside of the glove on jabs? Popping jab from Wlad. More jabs, occasional right. Haye running out of steam, or out of ideas. Wlad wrestles Haye from the middle of the ring to the ropes; both fighters somewhat tired. Wlad connects, clinches, Haye tries to punch from the clinch as the round ends. Klitschko 10-9; total 99-92

Round Eleven: Klitschko is dominating the score by winning fairly close rounds, but he should be clearly ahead, meaning Haye needs a KO to win, most likely. Haye lunges in an misses, falling to the canvas, and the annoyed ref gives Haye a standing count! Big jab by Wlad. More of the same this round. Huge overhead right by Haye whiffs. Left jab by Haye, Klitschko responds. Haye lunges and misses again, stumbles on his knees for about the 10th time as the round ends. With the "knockdown", Klitschko wins 10-8; total 109-100.

Round Twelve: Haye lunging in more, showing more offense this round. Will he go for broke? Try to KO Wlad, or be KOed himself? Haye lands a great right; Klitschko holding grotesquely and wrestling to avoid followup shots. Klitschko returns fire with big jabs. Standing toe to toe more than they have all fight, one minute left. Both tired. Haye probably doesn't have the energy as his lunges are ineffective late in the round. Last 10 seconds a brawling clinch. Haye might deserve that round, maybe not, but we'll give it to him Haye 10-9; total: Klitschko 118-110.

In summary, Haye was elusive all fight but rarely connected, and at most won about four rounds. Klitschko's face shows the marks of when Haye landed, but Haye took a beating himself. Most rounds, however, were full of Klitschko jabs with little in return from Haye, just like all of Wladimir's recent fights. But Haye made it harder than anyone has in a long time.

The judges' scorecards: 117-109, 118-108, 116-110 all for Wladimir Klitschko, pretty much exactly in line with how we saw it. Haye and Klitschko shake hands. Haye is saying a broken toe kept him from being able to "push off" to deliver his right hand, something that isn't going to endear him to his detractors. He will take some time off to decide what to do next with his career, but sounds as if it's going to continue.

Wladimir Klitschko retains the top spot in the SportsRatings Heavyweight rankings, while David Haye will fall from #4 to around #10, with a 5-1 heavyweight record. Klitschko improves to 56-3, now holding all the major belts except brother Vitali's WBC title.

Preview: Klitschko vs. Haye at 5:15 Eastern Time (USA) Saturday, June 2

After a luckluster June which saw the top 25 of the SportsRatings Top 100 Heavyweights change negligibly, the biggest fight of the year happens tomorrow, June 2, when #1 Wladimir Klitschko faces #4 David Haye in a bout that's been anticipated for years.

First, lets get this out of the way: The fight time. When events happen in Europe there's a lot of confusion in the U.S. as to when the bell will ring. In short, the fight—held in Hamburg, Germany— should start at or around 5:15 eastern time, with HBO beginning coverage at 4:30. Other times/dates around the world of interest to those watching the combatants:

United States
California (Pacific time): 2:15 PM
Denver, CO (Mountain): 3:15 PM
Chicago (Central): 4:15 PM
New York (Eastern): 5:15 PM

United Kingdom 10:15 PM

Germany: 11:15 PM

Ukraine: 12:15 AM June 3

Russia
Moscow: 1:15 AM June 3
Novosibirsk: 4:15 AM June 3
Vladivostok: 8:15 AM June 3

Japan: 6:15 am June 3

Australia (Sydney): 7:15 AM June 3

New Zealand: 9:15 AM June 3

Gives a good idea of Russia's size, doesn't it? Remember these times are for the approximate start of Round One. If you want to catch the staredown, referees' directions, and national anthems, start watching on the hour (15 minutes earlier). And if the walk-ins are important to you, tune in 15 minutes before the hour.

Tale of the Tape

Now, the fight. Klitschko of course has a huge size advantage, and he weighed in at 243 to Haye's 213. He's also about 4 inches taller and has a 3 inch reach advantage. Haye is 5 years younger at 30.

Fight Tactics

Most people expect Klitschko to follow the pattern that has led him to dominate for the last five years: jabbing his opponent to death while avoiding getting hit. Of his last several foes, only 6' 6" Tony Thompson was able to get in any decent shots, while even the likes of Sultan Ibragimov, Ruslan Chagaev, and Eddie Chambers were all pretty much shut out offensively. To avoid getting hit, Klitschko keeps a distance with his reach, uses backward movement when the opponent closes, and clinches if he managed to get inside. Lately, the jab has almost been enough on its own.

Can Haye break the spell and deliver any punishment? His reach and height disadvantage aren't as great as the others who fared poorly (Ibragimov, Chagaev, and Chambers all stand around 6' 1"), and he's probably the fastest fighter Wladimir has ever faced.

Some have suggested that Haye will fight Klitschko the way he fought Nicolay Valuev—staying at a distance, then closing quickly to deliver shots and backing out just as fast. This would be much harder to pull off against Klitschko than Valuev, it goes without saying. But standing at Wladimir's jab distance is suicide.

Though it might just be a mental tactic, Haye claims he intends to end the fight quickly by knockout, and in reality putting everything he's got into a few make-or-break rounds might not be a bad idea given Wladimir's complete dominance of later rounds against worn-down opponents. Klitschko has reiterated his long-held stance that he will batter Haye for "12 rounds of pizza face" before knocking him out.

Haye and the Hype

This is probably the most anticipated heavyweight title fight since Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson in 2002. While Lewis' fight with Vitali Klitschko is the most-remembered heavyweight title fight of this century, it wasn't preceded with a lot of hype as Vitali was a late replacement and wasn't expected to be a big challenge to Lewis. Since then, all the "real" title fights have involved a Klitschko (and have drawn less U.S. interest) or have been various alphabet belts that most observers consider secondary. Haye holds the WBA belt, meaning that the WBA, IBF, and WBO will be united after the fight, with Vitali Klitschko holding the WBC.

The hype of this fight can be attributed mostly to David Haye's mouth, and secondarily to his ring performance. Haye was a Cruiserweight champion known for his speed and his demolition of Enzo Macinarelli, which at the time was a rare occurrence. Since moving up to heavyweight he's dispatched Monte Barrett (TKO 5) in a short, fairly entertaining fight; Valuev (MD 12) in a very uneventful bout; John Ruiz (TKO 9) in perhaps Haye's best effort; and most recently, Audley Harrison (TKO 3) in a completely 1-sided joke.

Haye promised to "clean up" the heavyweight division, confronted Wladimir on an escalator to make the fight two years ago, wore t-shirts depicting both Klitschkos decapitated...then pulled out of the scheduled bout claiming a hand injury.

When Haye pulled out of the first fight, many assumed the injury was an excuse for either a) losing the tv sponsorship that would have made the fight lucrative for him, b) wanting better terms, ones that didn't include a rematch-clause involving Vitali, or c) he was scared and wanted out. The fact that he eventually made the fight suggests that he wasn't scared. He did get better terms for this fight, with no rematch clauses, probably due to the leverage from his WBA belt.

However, even though he broke off the first fight, the only reason it happened was due to his constant haranguing of the Klitschkos. At that time his heavyweight resume was weak. Now, despite few fights at this level, it's as strong as most of those the Klitschkos have been facing recently as they steamroll the division. And like him or not, he did "clean up" the division in the manner he promised: since losing to Haye, long-time boxing fan nemeses Valuev and Ruiz have yet to fight again, and Audley Harrison is at least a big step closer to retirement.

Will the fight live up to the hype? Will it be the most exciting heavyweight title fight since Lewis-Klitschko? Or will it be another uneventful, one-sided affair, with Haye unable to make any ground on the champion?

We think Haye has injected some much-needed energy into the heavyweight scene, and he does have good speed and unorthodox delivery, giving him a chance to be Wladimir most successful title challenger. But that doesn't say a lot, as no one has come close to beating Wlad in several years. We see Haye having some success a la Tony Thompson, but Wlad's jab and technique are still at their peak. If Haye plays it conservatively he will lose a wide decision. If he goes for broke, it will be an interesting first 6 rounds but Klitschko more than likely wins this scenario, too, by mid-to-late TKO.

Here's hoping Haye lays it all on the line, which gives him his only chance to actually win. Boxing needs an exciting heavyweight title fight, and more people will be watching this one than in a long time.