Photo credit: Pavel Terekhov – By Chris Williams: If you’re one of those fans who are hoping that World Boxing Association heavyweight champion David Haye (24-1, 22 KO’s) will man up and fight the Klitschko brothers to try and take their titles in the near future, you can relax and probably forget about it. Haye doesn’t appear to be interested in facing either of the Klitschko brothers now or any time soon. Haye talks a lot, name drops the Klitschko brothers, gets attention, but then quickly takes on other opponents. This trend will likely continue until Haye is eventually beaten by one of his contenders or retires from the sport.

Part of me thinks that Haye might step up at the very end of his career for a fight against whichever Klitschko brother is still fighting at that point, but I’m not so sure. Haye hasn’t shown much interest in facing dangerous opponents since he moved up to the heavyweight division in 2008, so I expect for that trend to continue until he’s beaten or retires.

Beyond Haye, there’s really not much opposition to speak of in the heavyweight division. Tomasz Adamek is too short at 6’1”, and looks too small to be anymore than a knockout victim against either of the Klitschko brothers. Adamek will likely be smaller version of Alberto Sosnowski when he does get a title chance either later this year or in 2011. Adamek will be stopped when that time comes and then quickly take his place as a long-time gate keeper in the heavyweight division.

Alexander Povetkin is another fighter that doesn’t have the size to compete against the Klitschko brothers. He’s been dragging his feet for what seems like forever in taking his time getting into the ring with Wladimir. The latest news is that Povetkin wants Wladimir to agree to more extensive drug testing before he’ll face him next. Wladimir doesn’t want to go along with this testing.

This could put Povetkin’s title challenge in jeopardy unless he drops his demands. However, when and if Povetkin eventually faces Wladimir, I expect for Povetkin to be destroyed in an easy win by Wladimir. The fight will likely be as one-sided as Vladimir’s 9th round stoppage win over Ruslan Chagaev last year in June.

The other top heavyweight contenders Denis Boytsov and Odlanier Solis are lacking in size and don’t have the mobility or the power needed to beat either of the Klitschko brothers. They may be a slight step up above Sosnowski, but not much.