By William Mackay: I don’t know what the big fuss is all about. I never thought for an instant that WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (24-1, 22 KO’s) would fight either of the Klitschko brothers, in particular IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. Haye had a chance to fight Wladimir before last year in June but came up with a back injury weeks before the fight. Wladimir, still not turned off towards Haye, then called out Haye again to try and get another fight. And like last time, it doesn’t look like Haye is about to fight Wladimir.
Instead, Haye appears to be on a collision course with 38-year-old Audley Harrison (27-4, 20 KO’s) in a fight that will likely take place in November in England. Somehow, that fight seems fitting for Haye, because Harrison is 38, and Haye’s last opponent John Ruiz was also 38. And Haye’s opponent before that Nikolay Valuev was 36. And before that, Haye fought 38-year-old Monte Barrett. Harrison fits in nicely with the bunch.
I honestly don’t know why Wladimir even wasted his time trying to put together a fight with Haye. He should have learned a lesson from last time or from when his brother Vitali Klitschko was attempting to put together a fight with Haye, only to have Haye disappear during negotiations and turn having signed a fight with then WBA heavyweight champion Valuev, who was considered by far to be the weakest of the heavyweight champions at the time.
If I’m Wladimir and Vitali, I would forget all about Haye and just focus on beating the best opponents possible in the top 10. Let Haye fight whoever he wants to try to hold onto his title for a little while. Of course, if the Klitschko brothers back completely off, Haye will likely start name dropping again and calling out the brothers like before.
But I would just ignore that and focus on their own careers. I would just tell Haye if he wants to fight, he should agree to take 30% of the purse split, otherwise forget it. I don’t think Haye will hold onto WBA title for that much longer anyway. As soon as he meets up with a heavyweight that can take his shots, I see Haye having major problems and getting knocked out. I don’t know Harrison is the fight, but I think his mandatory challenger Ruslan Chagaev could be the one to do it. He can take a heck of a shot and he hits hard enough to do the job against Haye.
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