By William Mackay: Trainer Emanuel Steward is pushing for his fighter IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KO’s) to forget about getting everything he wants in his negotiations with World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight champion David Haye (25-1, 23 KO’s) and to go ahead and fight him anyway to help the sport of boxing. Wladimir, 34, has been trying to iron out a contract with the 30-year-old Haye which would make it a 50-50 deal.
It seems only logical that Wladimir would choose to do this, as Haye has only a tiny amount of experience at the heavyweight level and most of that has come against aging heavyweights 36 to 39-years-old. Haye has fought exactly five times at heavyweight and none of those fights have come against younger heavyweights with power like Denis Boytsov or Alexander Povetkin.
In an article at sportinglife.com, Steward says “Thse guys should stop arguing over every nicket and dime and get this fight done. It’s got to be 50-50 all the way. Get this fight signed as soon as possible for the good of boxing.”
There is a lot of complicated things that need to be agreed on in the contract and it would silly for Wladimir to give in and take less than what he deserves. Realistically, this fight shoudln’t even be a 50-50 deal. Wladimir has the more experience, both in terms of overall fights and at heavyweight, so it’s him that should be getting the bigger deal. If he was smart he would tell Haye to take the smaller cut or take a walk. Wladimir should be the one that chooses the venue, the pay split and even the referee. No way should he just give in to Haye just because Steward is pushing him.
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