By Jason Kim: International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (51-3, 45 KOs) will be defending his title on December 13th, in Mannheim, Germany, against Alexander Povetkin (16-0, 12 KOs). The bout pits two former Olympic Gold Medalists, Klitschko the 1996 winner and Povetkin the 2004 Gold medal winner. In Povetkin’s case, he’s been moved up rapidly into this title match by his handlers after winning the IBF mandatory tournament with wins over Chris Byrd and Eddie Chambers.
At 29, Povetkin may or may not be the future of the heavyweight division, depending on how well he does against Klitschko on December 13th and how long he can compete with his high energy style of fighting. He’s not blessed with a lot of power or size compared to many other heavyweights, but he more than makes up for it with his high volume punch output. Listed at 6’2″, Povetkin is probably closer to 6’0″, possibly 6’1″ at the most, which will be a problem for him against the 6’6″ Klitschko. Povetkin will be forced to eat a lot of leather in order to get close enough to land his short combinations. The problem with that, however, is that Wladimir likes to tie up his opponents when they get in close range, something he likes to do again and again.
By Michael Lieberman: If heavyweights David Haye and Wladimir Klitschko can get by their next opponents, we will be seeing them in June 2009, according to reports from Setanta Sports where Adam Both, the trainer and manager for Haye, stated “We’ve discussed the fight happening next year in June, possibly in England.” However, there are still a lot of obstacles that need to be taken care of before the fight takes place, starting with Haye and Klitschko’s next opponents. Haye, 28, is facing journeyman Monte Barrett, who recently was selected by Haye after looking long and hard for a top ranked heavyweight with a big name. 
By Jim Dower: In the past week, we’ve seen Vitali Klitschko make a successful comeback after four years away from boxing with his 8th round stoppage over Samuel Peter last Saturday in Berlin, Germany. However, if Vitali thought that his victory over Peter would immediately lead to him being awarded golden opportunities of huge mega fights, like the ones that typically occur in the lower weight classes, Vitali was sadly mistaken. Sadly, Vitali’s situation came out loud and clear when he gave an interview in which he said that he had hopes that Lennox Lewis would be coming out of retirement to fight him in a rematch. It seemed as if he had been asleep for the past four years and had woken up, thinking that it was still 2004 rather than 2008. 
By Aaron Klein: – photo by Y.Nesterenko / klitschko.com – While a lot of boxing fans and writers were enthusiastic with Vitali Klitschko’s impressive comeback win on Saturday night over Samuel Peter, one observer was less than impressed with his performance and that being heavyweight contender David Haye. According to an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Haye said, “Neither of them [Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko] has the speed I can show them and they are both vulnerable…Give me Wladimir first, then I’ll take on the older brother.” 
By Eric Thomas: Promoter Don King revealed yesterday on Steve Bunce’s Boxing Hour show that he wants Wladimir Klitschko to face Samuel Peter (30-1, 23 KOs) in Nigeria in the near future. Of course, the fight is contingent on Peter, 28, defeating Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir’s older brother) on Saturday night in their WBC title match clash at the O2 Arena in Berlin, Germany. King said, “If he [Peter] destroys Vitali and then jumps on his brother and gets revenge for the loss he suffered, the only loss he ever suffered, then you will see more excitement in the air in the heavyweight division.” 
By Aaron Klein: After talking down the heavyweight division for the past couple of months since moving up to the heavyweight division, David Haye (21-1, 20 KOs) will finally have to prove himself against one of them on November 15th, against American Monte Barrett. Haye’s opponent leaves a lot to be desired, but still this one promises to be a lot of fun, if only to see what happens to Haye when he gets hit on the button once or twice by Barrett. It probably won’t last though, because Barrett, 37, doesn’t have the chin nor enough power probably to take out the tender-chinned Haye. I say probably, because Haye’s chin is as weak as they come, and he had problems in the past against more than a few small cruiserweights, such as Carl Thompson, Jean Marc Mormeck, Giacobbe Fragomeni and Lolenga Mock. 
By Jason Kim: Without having fought any heavyweights other than Tomasz Bonin a year and half ago, former cruiserweight champion David Haye (21-1, 20 KOs) must feel that he’s the luckiest fighter on Earth. The reason is simple. Haye, 27, only has to face one fighter, who at the moment is a fighter by the name of JD Chapman, and if things go alright for Haye then he gets an almost guaranteed title shot against IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in 2009. Not bad for someone who’ll by that time will have had all of two heavyweight fights in the division. 
By Aaron Klein: According to the Press Association, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions Richard Schaefer was informed that Wladimir Klitschko (51-3, 45 KOs) will accept a fight David Haye (21-1, 20 KOs). It appears that Klitschko may possibly be interested in fighting Haye soon, perhaps immediately following Wladimir’s next bout with former 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Alexander Povetkin (16-0, 12 KOs) on December 13th in Germany. For Haye, 27, it would have to be a dream come true, for he originally believed that it would take him awhile to arrive at a title shot, and that he would have to fight a few really good fighters before he would land a shot. 
By Sean McDaniel: In a recent interview with The Sun, former cruiserweight champion David Haye (21-1, 20 KOs), getting a little ahead of himself in his future goals, commented that he may need to fight both Klitschko brothers in order to unify the titles. Apparently, Haye, 27, is going by the assumption that he’ll be defeating IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko next year when they’ll possibly be meeting. At the same time, Haye also appears to be going by the presumption that Wladimir’s brother, Vitali Klitschko, will defeat World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Samuel Peter on October 11th. 
By Aaron Klein: With only one fight under his belt as a heavyweight, it seems as if former cruiserweight champion David Haye (21-1, 20 KOs) is already even more popular than IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (51-3, 45 KOs), who has been off and on a title holder in the division since April 2000. Although some boxing fans may dispute this, just take a look at the articles in the media about Haye, and then take a look for any articles on Wladimir. Unless I miss my guess, you’d lucky to find one article on Wladimir, whereas Haye would have near countless articles on him and his career.