Advantage Haye? Klitschko appears rattled at big-fight weigh-in

Wladimir Klitschko suffered the indignity of being booed in his home-town by a noisy contingent of David Haye supporters at this afternoon’s weigh-in ahead of tomorrow’s heavyweight unification clash. Both fighters, as ever, looked in magnificent shape as they tipped the scales at the Karstadt Sports shopping centre in Hamburg. Reigning WBO, IBF and IBO king Klitschko weighed-in at 17st 5lbs and will enjoy more than a two-stone weight advantage over WBA champion Haye who totalled 15st 3lbs.

The boxers’ weights were hardly surprising however Klitschko seemed mildly rattled by the hostile reception that he was subjected to by the 1,000 plus crowd most of them Brits, including around 200 who began to gather from 9am to ensure their presence was clearly heard.

A predictable barrage of football chants rung out, followed by a slightly more amusing rendition of “You’re just a s***t Ivan Drago” in reference to the robotic Russian played by Dolph Lundgren who was slayed by Sylvestre Stallone in Rocky IV. Wladimir’s brother, Vitali, looked beside himself with rage and it will be intriguing to see how animated he becomes in the corner tomorrow night if the tide begins to turn against his younger brother.

The customary stare-down saw a grinning Haye nod in seemingly total self-belief that he will prevail. Wladimir also looked ice-cool but appeared riled as he left the sports hall to boos once more. In the middle of these customaries, a heated row broke out between Hayemaker’s David Coldwell and Adam Booth and Wladimir’s trainer, Emanuel Steward. A typically bullish Booth was seen to mouth “it’s in the contract” as the debate, seemingly concerning which gloves the fighters’ must wear, eventually subsided.

Advantage Haye after the weigh-in? We’ll soon find out.