By Dan Ambrose: Unless WBA heavyweight champion David Haye wants to take a chance that his fight with IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko will go ahead and take place on July 2nd like what’s currently, Haye might do well to strongly consider fighting a tune-up money fight against one of the top contenders that are ranked by the WBA.

I would say wait for Wladimir, but there’s a good change that a fight between Wladimir and Haye still won’t happen in July, especially if Wladimir gets cut in his April 30th bout against Dereck Chisora. Haye could end up waiting an awful long time for the Klitschko bout and end up missing out on a number of paydays in the process.

Below, I’ve listed what I consider Haye’s best alternatives for fights in the near future. I woudn’t advise for Haye to dig up another ultra soft touch like Audley Harrison or one of the other 2nd tier British heavyweights to fight because it will look back if Haye fights back to back poor heavyweights.

Ruslan Chagaev – this would be a good opponent for Haye because Chagaev is not only the former WBA heavyweight champion but he’s also a pretty decent fighter and is ranked #1 by the WBA. The only question is whether the fight would interest boxing fans in the UK. Haye is going to have to fight Chagaev sooner or later.

Tomasz Adamek – A decent heavyweight with wins over older heavyweights and a tendency to get staggered when hit hard. This would be an easy fight for Haye and perhaps his best fight to gain interest around the world. Adamek is a former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion, but has no power at heavyweight and doesn’t look as good as the younger more powerful guys like Alexander Povetkin and Denis Boytsov. This might be Haye’s best bet for an easy one punch knockout fight. The problem here is that Adamek might not be interested in fighting Haye. Adamek is making good money fighting older heavyweights and 2nd tier guys. He might not want to spoil things by getting knocked out by Haye.

Denis Boytsov – an excellent heavyweight contender with good power if not size. Boytsov is ranked at number #2 by the WBA, and would make for an interesting fight. He doesn’t have much experience against upper level heavyweights, though.

Alexander Ustinov – A stiff, tall Russian heavyweight with a style much like Vitali Klitschko, only slower and weaker. Ustinov would be similar to Valuev for Haye. He’s much too slow to beat Haye but might be able to stick around for awhile and make things interesting for six or so rounds before getting knocked out.

Alexander Povetkin – A good heavyweight, but getting him in the ring might be tough. His trainer seems to be keeping him on training wheels, and slowing his career down hoping he can improve enough to compete with one of the Klitschkos. It’s a pointless exercise because Povetkin is already as good as he’ll ever be. He’s only getting older now and wasting his potential. If Haye could get Povetkin in the ring, this would be an even better fight than Adamek, because Povetkin is a better heavyweight, has better work rate, is a much more rugged heavyweight compared to Adamek. Povetkin would be a danger to Haye because of his pressure and high work rate. Haye night not want to take this fight.