Wladimir says Haye has to fight him now

By Boxing News - 11/24/2010 - Comments

Image: Wladimir says Haye has to fight him nowBy William Mackay: IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KO’s) thinks WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (25-1, 23 KO’s) has to fight him now after all the talking the British heavyweight has done in the past two years about wanting to fight him. Wladimir thinks the 30-year-old Haye will end up looking like a joke if he doesn’t fight him. In an article at thesun.co.uk, Wladimir said “Haye has talked so much and provoked me so often he has to fight unless he wants to be the division’s biggest clown.”

I’d like to think that Haye is really interested in fighting Wladimir and his brother WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, but I’m not so sure. Haye has pretty much shown his real feelings about fighting Wladimir by avoiding him altogether since moving up to the heavyweight division in 2008. With that much time to have set up a fight with Wladimir or his brother Vitali, it just seems painfully obvious that Haye isn’t eager to face either of the Klitschkos. That, of course, hasn’t prevented Haye from mentioning them frequently in the media to get the attention that he needs to stay a popular heavyweight.

Haye has fought Monte Barrett, Nikolay Valuev, John Ruiz and Audley Harrison since moving up to the heavyweight division in 2008. Those fighters all have one thing in common and that’s their advanced age. All of them are nearing 40 and in addition don’t have big power. These have been nice safe fights for Haye. But in taking on Wladimir, Haye would be under constant fire and wouldn’t have the size to compete without getting hit hard from the outside. Haye plans on retiring next year when he turns 31. I expect him to retire without having faced Wladimir or his brother Vitali.



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