By Jim Dower: Heavyweight David Haye (22-1, 21 KO’s) appears already primed for a unification bout against IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, despite Haye still having to first get by World Boxing Association heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev (50-1, 34 KO’s) on November 7th in Germany. In an interview with Sky Sports, Haye came across as his usual supremely confident self, saying “My job is to knock out Nikolai Valuev and become the heavyweight champion of the world.”

Haye, 28, then went on to point out that he was a former undisputed cruiserweight champion at one time before moving up to the heavyweight division last year, and that his goal now is to duplicate that feat in the heavyweight division by unifying all the titles. For that to happen, Haye must get by the huge 7’ foot Valuev in November.

The way that Haye talks, it’s going to be an easy task for Haye to chop down the big Russian giant. Certainly, Valuev looks very beatable in his last three fights, but those were against real heavyweights, not a blown up cruiserweight with a shaky chin like Haye.

Sparring may help Haye get used to fighting other heavyweights, but there’s no heavyweight sparring partner around that can duplicate the size and ability of Valuev. The Russian punches harder than many people think and could shock some people if he’s able to land one of his clubbing punches on the jaw of Haye.

“I was due to fight Wladimir Klitschko but picked up a back injury and that fight will have to wait until next year,” Haye said. “It works out quite well though as by the time we fight each other it will be for a unification.” Talk about counting your chickens before they’ve hatched. Haye seems confident that Wladimir Klitschko will be interested in fighting him for a unification bout. This may or may not be the case. Wladimir isn’t happy that Haye didn’t take the fight with him.

Klitschko has even more of a reason to be unhappy with Haye because David then backed out of a fight with Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir’s brother. Since then, both of the Klitschko brothers have questioned whether Haye is a serious fighter. Of course, if Haye captures the WBA heavyweight title, the Klitschko brothers may be singing a different tune.

What does seem kind of bizarre is that Haye is only mentioning a unification bout with Wladimir Klitschko, and not Vitali. In wonder why that is. It could be that Haye likes his chances better against Wladimir, the Klitschko with the much weaker chin. It’ll be interesting to see how things turn out in the future.

If Haye does beat Valuev, there’s the question whether the Klitschko brothers will want to fight Haye, and if they do, which one it will be. It might not be the brother that Haye prefers, however. I can see Wladimir stepping aside and letting his 38-year-old brother take the fight instead, because Vitali doesn’t have a lot of time left like Wladimir. Then it would be up to Haye to see if he’s man enough to take a fight with Vitali and not back out like last time.

Haye is looking to be the first British heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis did it years ago in 1993. Haye has a good shot at winning. Valuev just turned 36, and doesn’t look to be the same fighter he was four years ago when Valuev captured the World Boxing Association heavyweight title with a 12 round majority decision against John Ruiz in 2004.

Valuev was a lot quicker than, capable of throwing combinations and able to summon up a respectable power punch or two at times. Valuev has slowed in the past year quite a bit and looked poor against John Ruiz and Evander Holyfield, struggling to beat both of them by 12 round decisions.