By Sean McDaniel: World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight champion David Haye (25-1, 23 KO’s) says he wants to fight both of the Klitschko brothers before retiring next year in October.
But Haye wants to fight Wladimir first and then his 39-year-old brother WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. Things could come to a grinding halt if Haye is unable to negotiate a fight with Wladimir, however.
In an article at the BBC Sport, Haye said “I’m going after Wladimir first, he holds the IBF/WBO and IBO titles, so It’d be a big scalp to relieve him of those. I’ll retire in October next year. If the fight doesn’t happen next year, I’ll just have to accept that becoming the WBA champion was enough and move on with my life. That’ll be 20 years of getting punched in the face, which is long enough time. I set my goals and achieved them so unifying the titles is the cherry on the cake but if it doesn’t happen it wasn’t meant to be and I’ve just got to get on with my life.”
Haye doesn’t say what he’ll do if he gets destroyed by Wladimir next year. You would have to think that a loss to Wladimir, especially a knockout loss, would be a huge blow for Haye to take. Although Haye would still likely continue to fight up until his retirement date in October next year, the money that Haye would get will be much less once he’s no longer a champion and holder of the WBA title.
Haye could perhaps still coax Vitali Klitschko into fighting him, but that’s not a sure thing. And the interest might not be there if Wladimir knocks Haye out early in the fight. It usually takes awhile for a fighter to rebuild his name among fans after being crushed. Haye, with his retirement deadline next year, won’t have that luxury. In that case, Haye might be better off retiring immediately after losing to Wladimir.
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