By Chris Williams: With David Haye’s pulling out of his fight with IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko which was scheduled for June 20th at the Veltins Arena, in Germany, Haye, 28, might very well have blown his chance of fighting both Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko. The reason is simple. Haye would at least stand a puncher’s chance at beating Wladimir, who typically has a lost of problems with fighters that can punch hard, but against the steel-chinned Vitali, Haye stands almost no chance of winning.

In hindsight, Haye might have been better of gritting it out, taking the pain in his delicate back and gone out and tried to knock Wladimir out. Look at it this way: If Haye were to go out and get knocked out by Wladimir, Haye could have cried moments after the fight and complained about his aching back and used that as the excuse for the loss.

Heck, even with a bad back, if Haye were able to get close enough to land one of his right hand haymakers, I’d give Haye a great chance of walking out of that fight with a victory over Wladimir. The victory would have then enabled Haye to move forward for what would have been a huge fight with Vitali Klitschko, who would have been trying to get revenge for Wladimir.

The bout no doubt would have given Haye a tremendous payday in the process, much bigger than he’ll get if he takes on Vitali in September. As it is, Haye likely now will never get a chance at fighting Wladimir, because once Vitali beats Haye, likely by an easy 3rd round knockout, Haye will be damaged goods and not considered worthy enough for a fight with Wladimir.

By the time that Haye rebuilds his career, which may prove to be impossible because he’d have to beat some top contenders in the heavyweight division, Wladimir would likely have long retired from boxing.

I hate to say this but I think Haye blew it. He should have just taken the pain and gone out and fought Wladimir the best he could. Sometimes a fighter has to fight through injuries, especially when there’s so much riding on the bout. I give Haye 1% chance of beating Vitali, whereas with Wladimir I think Haye would have at least a 30% chance of catching him with a big shot and knocking him out. The odds would be against Haye doing it, but at least there would have been a decent chance at winning.