By Vitali Shaposhnikov: The above mentioned fights are being threaded through every little space available on any and all boxing news websites. They are undoubtedly two of the biggest fights this year, having the most interest and significance for the sport.
Klitschko vs. Haye has its own special worth, finally bringing the fans an exciting meaningful heavyweight bout; something we haven’t seen since Lennox Lewis vs. Vitali Klitschko back in June of 2003. It has been a long time since the fans were thrilled about a heavyweight fight, and thanks to David Haye’s unrelenting verbal “promoting”, this is it.
Haye is a very quick fighter, with impressive skills and punching power. He has good body and head movement, and is vey capable of keeping moving around the ring for the entire fight. His confidence is bursting out of him, as he shows no doubt in his victory pledging to knock out “the robot” Wladimir Klitschko.
Klitschko on the other hand is a well established heavyweight champion. He has proved himself to be a dominant athlete in most fights, destroying his competition with his powerful long reaching jabs. With Emanuel Steward in his corner, Wladimir seems that much better, and is able to keep to his own game plan through the fight. Wlad’s power is hardly arguable, and his tactics, while boring are highly effective.
On the other end of the spectrum, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has finally come out of his hiatus, and is fighting a very good opponent in Victor Ortiz.
Ortiz is young and strong, with sky high confidence after defeating the previously unbeaten Andre Berto in a very decisive fashion. His power has been talked about in a positive way, and his ability to come forward and be the aggressor has been clearly proven. Mayweather Jr. has to be the most important fight in Ortiz’s career, and beating a guy like Floyd will skyrocket his career to new heights. While many people say that this is a guaranteed loss for Ortiz, I have to disagree. Floyd will be his toughest test to date, but passing this test has unbelievable benefits, thus I am confident Ortiz will be properly prepared.
For Mayweather Jr. this is just another fight. Ortiz has been in the spotlight for some time now, and this is exactly why Mayweather Jr. likes this fight. He is coming out of retirement to battle a recent well promoted hero. The fact that Ortiz is younger and supposedly has a decent chance at beating Mayweather Jr. is what is exciting about this bout. Can you imagine the uproar if Mayweather Jr. acquires a loss on his well protected unblemished record? Of course this is Floyd we are talking about here; his technical skill is already legendary in itself. Is he too fast for Ortiz? I say yes. Is he too smart in the ring for Ortiz? Also another solid yes from me. But is he as hungry for a victory? Of course not, and that’s why this fight might turn out to be one to remember.
So there you have it, two what seem to be and supposed to turn out to be, awesome action and suspense filled fights. Which fight are you more excited to see? And which fight do you think means more of the sport of boxing?