Haye vs. Wladimir Klitschko on July 2nd?

By Boxing News - 02/21/2011 - Comments

Image: Haye vs. Wladimir Klitschko on July 2nd?By Jim Dower: According to rumors floating around, WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (25-1, 23 KO’s) has changed his mind about not wanting to fight IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KO’s) on July 2nd, and has come slinking back to Wladimir and his team to say that he wants to do the fight on that date. It’s reportedly 90% done. Haye may have realized that pulling out of this date, after learning of Wladimir’s April 30th tune-up bout with Dereck Chisora, he was shooting himself in the foot.

The reason is because Haye, by choosing not to fight Wladimir on July 2nd, would have to fight his mandatory challenger either Ruslan Chagaev or Alexander Povetkin for far less money than what he would get in a fight against Wladimir. In addition, Povetkin or Chagaev would be incredibly risky bouts for the weak-chinned Haye, who has fought mostly older heavyweights nearing 40 since moving up to the heavyweight division in 2008.

Haye intends on retiring in October, so unless Haye takes the July 2nd date with Wladimir, that will be Haye’s last chance at fighting him before his retirement. Wladimir already has a scheduled fight with Tomasz Adamek in September, which would make it impossible for the Haye-Wladimir fight to be put together after the July date. Haye doesn’t want to fight Wladimir’s brother WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, preferring Wladimir to him for a number of reason. It’s unclear whether Wladimir will be able to make the July 2nd date if he suffers a cut in his April 30th fight against Chisora. There’s also a small chance Wladimir could lose the fight, and that too would wreck any chances of Haye-Wladimir fight.



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