By William Mackay: If by chance IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko’s injured muscles don’t heal by this summer when he’s supposed to fight WBA heavyweight champion David Haye, Wladimir’s brother WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko will step in for him to fight Haye. This was already common knowledge but Wladimir pointed it out again in a recent BBC Sport Five interview.
Here is what Wladimir had to say: “I’m still recovering after my injury and in a couple of weeks I will be fit and ready for the preparations. If I can’t perform then my brother will step in the ring because he’s been in this division a very long time.”
Haye specifically picked Wladimir, the Klitschko with the weaker chin, rather than taking on Vitali. Wladimir and Vitali think Haye is afraid of mixing it up with the older Klitschko and feel that Haye thinks Wladimir is the vulnerable one. Wladimir wants to fight Haye and prove that he’s not. However, Wladimir’s abdominal injury leaves his fight with Haye up in the air. It’s unknown whether Wladimir can make it through the training camp without aggravating the injury. With Haye saying he wants to retire at the end of the year, it doesn’t leave any room for Wladimir to postpone a fight with him if the injury continues to be a problem. In that case, Vitali will step in and Haye may find himself in a nightmarish situation of having to fight the Klitschko with the better chin. Haye has a chance against Wladimir because of his shaky chin, but against Vitali, Haye would have next to no chance of winning the fight.
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