By William Mackay: Instead of seeing World Boxing Association heavyweight champion David Haye (24-1, 22 KO’s) taking on one of the Klitschko brothers next, we may very well be seeing the 29-year-old Haye facing 38-year-old former 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist Audley Harrison (27-4, 20 Ko’s) next in a fight that will likely do well in the UK. In an article at ESPN.uk, promoter Barry Hearn, said that his son Eddie is trying to put together a fight between Haye and Harrison. Barry says “I’m not part of the negotiations. My son Eddie is fronting up the discussions. We are in talks; I understand the talks are going reasonably well.”

This may be Haye’s best bet for a safe fight. He’s got a weak chin, and if he was to take on one of the contenders like Denis Boytsov or Odlanier Solis, there’s a good chance that Haye could wind up getting knocked out. Harrison, 6’5”, is perhaps old enough for Haye to handle without getting stopped. It will still be a dangerous fight for Haye, because of Harrison’s left hand power and his southpaw fighting stance. If the fight does come off, Haye will likely be 30-years-old by then, and only a year away from his promised retirement of 31.

Haye has to speed of his schedule if he wants to beat both of the Klitschko brothers and retire as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the division. Haye has already been out of action since April, and fighting every eight months to twelve months won’t be frequent enough for Haye to fight both Klitschko brothers before his 31st birthday. Of course, Haye may change his mind about his retirement and continue to fight after his 31st birthday. But hopefully, Haye will have at least fought one of the Klitschko brothers by then.

If Haye decides on Harrison, he’s going to get teased a lot, because Haye has said in the past that he didn’t want to fight him. By fighting Harrison instead of the Klitschko brothers, Haye will be seen by some boxing fans as a cherry picker looking to milk his WBA title for as long as possible. However, it might be the wise thing for him to do this, because Haye barely beat the light hitting Nikolay Valuev last year by a 12 round decision, and Haye also looked amateurish and badly flawed in beating John Ruiz last April.