By Jim Dower: IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KO’s) and WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (25-1, 23 KO’s) have agreed on a unification bout on either June 25th or possibly July 2nd, with the fight taking place in one of three German soccer stadiums – Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen or Kaiserslautern.

This is great news for boxing fans of the sport because they have been waiting for this fight to happen for the past three years.

Wladimir, 34, pulled out of his scheduled April 30th bout against Dereck Chisora, complaining of a nagging abdominal injury that is supposedly unrelated to the Haye fight. However, many people believe this was an excuse for Wladimir to get out of the Chisora fight so that he could take the much more lucrative bout with Haye.

What makes the Haye fight even more important is his approaching retirement in April. Unless Wladimir opted to take the fight with Haye in June or July, the chances would be very slim that Wladimir would have had another chance to fight Haye before he retired from boxing. Haye hasn’t shown much interest in fighting WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko first, although Haye is saying that he’ll fight Vitali if Haye beats Wladimir.

That remains to be seen whether Haye will do this or whether he’ll get by Wladimir. Haye, 6’2” 217, will likely be an underdog due to his limited height, reach, boxing ability and experience. Haye has fought mostly aging heavyweights in their late 30s since he moved up in weight from the cruiserweight division.

In some cases Haye hasn’t had much choice because Nikolay Valuev, then 36, was the WBA champ, and John Ruiz, 38, was Haye’s mandatory challenger. However, 38-year-old Monte Barrett and 39-year-old Audley Hatton were both selected by Haye over much younger and arguably better equipped heavyweights that Haye could have fought. Because of the quality of the opponents that Haye has been fighting, you would have to make him a huge underdog in this fight because he’s going to be taking a huge step up in class from the old timers that he’s been fighting.

Both boxers confirmed Sunday the fight should take place on June 25 or July 2 in Germany.

“I am really pleased that we have closed a deal on this fight,” Klitschko told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
“The terms were right, it’s a fair deal — it’s a 50-50 split. That’s what they wanted and that’s what I wanted,” Haye told the BBC. “Here it is — end of June, beginning of July. Let’s get ready to rumble.”

anager, Bernd Boente, said the fight against Haye could take place at one of the three soccer stadiums in Germany — Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen or Kaiserslautern.

Haye says “I can’t wait to get Wladimir in that ring. It’s the fight I’ve wanted for so long.”

Haye believes he has a chance to beat Wladimir, which is why he’s been so eager to fight him and not so eager to fight his brother Vitali. Haye sees a weakness in Wladimir’s chin and his ability to fight in close. Haye intends on capitalizing on that weakness.