Zoro, Oden, and Roger make it look easy
Kizaru, with one of the top most busted fruits could NOT make it past Old Rayleigh who hadn't lifted a sword in decades
Haki reigns supreme. Fruits are important though, but this is the story of will.
The story is proving otherwise
Luffy and Kaido already had split the sky, their haki were basically matching, but Luffy still lost miserably
You're comparing different eras with different standards, makes no sense, if you think Oda made Kaido state that because he actually thinks Haki>Devil Fruits and not the opposite, then you're setting yourself for disappointment
The same guys who still think Yamato is stronger than Sanji because of CoC