Don’t look now, but there’s actually a heavyweight championship fight taking place this weekend that matters. In fact, it’s probably the division’s most important fight since Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson back in 2002. And easily, one of the sport’s most critical matchups. I’m talking Wladimir Klitschko v. David Haye, this Saturday in Hamburg, Germany. Critical, because you have the division’s biggest name defending his title against a challenger who has a belt of his own and is in his prime…and critical because of all the crazy noise Haye has made leading up to this fight.

Photos: Wladimir's Career

Believe me, Haye has done his part to sell it., promising, quote: “You are going to see the most brutal execution of a boxer. I will absolutely destroy him.” And when asked why he won’t shake Klitschko’s hand, he says he’ll do it when he visits him in the hospital after the fight. And that comes on the heels of him rocking a ‘T’ where he’s shown holding the severed heads of Klitschko and his brother.
At that point, Klitschko had just about enough telling SI.com’s Chris Mannix, quote: “Whose parents would love to see their son’s head cut off. There are certain things you can’t do. There are certain lines you can’t cross….I’m glad such a bastard like David Haye exists. He definitely did something stupid with that t-shirt. He knows that it was stupid.” We’ll find out Saturday if it was.
Haye is the younger, quicker, more athletic fighter, and if anyone can beat Klitschko, it’s Haye. But it says here, he won’t. Klitschko is bigger, stronger, more experienced and while his chin will always be a question, Haye’s going to have to catch him with some clean shots and no one has been able to do that in years. Klitschko is way too smart and despite seeing his and his brother’s domes lopped off, he won’t take any unnecessary chances, will wear the smaller Haye down and win by stoppage late. Haye dominated the fight outside the ring, but he’ll come up short inside of it.