By Gari Jones: What is happening in the world of heavyweight boxing, after the top three Heavyweights David Haye W25 (KO-23) WBA Champion, L1 (KO-1), D0, Wladimir Klitschko W55 (KO-49), L3 (KO3), D0 WBC Champion, and his elder brother Vitali Klitschko W41 (KO-38), L2 (KO2), D0 WBO/IBF Champion; had all fought with only Wladimir’s fight called off, all of them had the Christmas Holidays to sort out a unification fight, and despite their calendar being clear all spring each have opted out of such a deal.

Haye having seen off the one punch chicken chaser that is Audley Harrsion in November, Vitali beating the easy to hit walking talking slab of meat that is Briggs a month earlier and Wladimir’s fight called off citing injury as the cause. Neither had any fight plans made or mandatory bouts that were going take place anytime soon. But despite this nothing has happened.

All three fighters schedules were cleared for the spring, the Klitshchko’s or Haye had no excuse to arrange a unification bout. Whichever came first Haye v Wladimir or Vitali, wouldn’t have mattered, to fight fans this is the most exciting heavyweight clash available since the Lennox v Tyson fight in 2002, but alas after all the promises nothing has happened. Haye had promised to unify the titles in 2011 before his planned retirement in October of this year, Wladimir has long said he wants to fight Haye, most notably in a vid promo calling the Hayemaker out and even Vitali wants to get his hands on Haye before he hangs up his gloves.
So what is the reason for this where is this all going wrong, is it money? Haye and the Bro’s were happy for a 50/50 split of the purse… so it can’t be that, is it venue? Haye wants to fight in the UK while the Bro’s want Germany… Las Vegas and New York have stepped in and are happy to stage the event so neither has home advantage, so no its not that either.

Other theories have been used, it’s been said Haye is not willing to share the UK PPV sales (giving him a bigger purse than 50/50), Vitali’s outrageous contract demands for rematches, Wladimir’s weak chin is suspect to Haye’s fast hands, Haye is just cashing in on his belt by fighting bums like Ruiz and Audley ( he doesn’t want to fight a genuine heavyweight ), or Vitali is past his best and wouldn’t stand the pace of Haye having failed to see off slow mo’s like Briggs and Kevin Johnson (despite dominating the whole fight) and it has even been suggested the Klitschko’s are biding their time; waiting for Haye to retire so they can claim his by then vacated WBA belt, and against an Interim opponent (obviously of weaker class than Haye) and become the dominant brothers of the Heavyweight division.

I’m not sure what the reasons are and to be honest this saga has gone on for so long that I’m not bothered anymore. I think neither the Klitschko’s or Haye have had little or any interest in fighting each other as this was the perfect time for it to happen, if they did then both sides should be throwing out all the stops to make this happen (as the fans deserve a decent heavyweight bout for once), Instead Wladimir has opted to fight Derek Chisora (whilst not deserving this shot, has an outsider’s chance of an upset), and Vitali has chosen to fight the upcoming Cuban Odlanier Solis on 19-3-11. I think all three have been incredibly selfish and are protecting their records as well as their purses, time has proven my point I think and neither Klitschko has any intent of fighting Haye anytime soon or in the foreseeable future.

So where does that leaves Haye if he is too realise his dream he is going to have to work fast, earliest possible date for Vitali (should he beat Solis) is late June or early July and Wladimir is likely to be October (should he beat Chisora). But given how stubborn both sides appear to be in negations over this I can’t see it happening. It likely Haye will have to postpone his retirement plans for his legacy to be cemented in History.