By Matt Stein: WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (40-2, 38 KO’s) is ready to take a 50-50 split of the finances for a unification bout against World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight champion David Haye (24-1, 22 KO’s), but he doesn’t think Haye will take the fight. In an article at the BBC Sport, Vitali says “Haye has twice jumped away because he is afraid. Haye doesn’t want to fight. He talks so much, but he has to be honest with people. [The Klitschkos] are ready to fight him anything. We’ll split the worldwide income 50-50. I think that’s fair. Right now, David Haye is missing. If he’s afraid to fight, he needs to tell everyone and stop the talk. If he’s ready, let’s sign the contract and talk in the ring with our fists, not with our mouths.”

Haye had been looking to fight the Klitschko brothers for many months. However, now that Haye has captured the WBA heavyweight title, he appears to be much less interested in fighting either of the Klitschko brothers. He’s stopped talking and has almost disappeared completely since his first defense over John Ruiz last April. Haye and his trainer/manager Adam Booth both wanted a 50-50 deal at the minimum with the Klitschko brothers, and now that he apparently has what he’s been asking for, it’s hard to understand what is keeping Haye from taking a fight against either of the Klitschko brothers.

With Haye not showing any interest to fight, IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko has moved on for now and will be taking on number #2 ranked IBF heavyweight contender Samuel Peter on September 11th in Frankfurt, Germany.

Vitali Klitschko, for his part, is looking to fight 38-year-old former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs on October 16th. However, the contracts still haven’t been signed as of yet. Vitali doesn’t have a lot of appealing opponents to choose from in the top 15. Briggs, although old and rusty from inactivity against top world level fighters, still has huge power and is probably going to make it interesting for three or four rounds, if he lasts that long. But once the fight goes beyond that, Briggs will likely have big problems with his stamina and probably will end up getting taken out by Vitali. Ideally, it would be so much more interesting if Haye were to accept Vitali’s challenge and fight him in October, because Haye still doesn’t have an opponent picked out yet and this is fight that boxing fans would eat up.