By William Mackay: The date and venue for the unification bout between IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 Ko’s) and WBC heavyweight champion David Haye (25-1, 23 KO’s) has finally been set. The fight reportedly will be taking place at a large 57,000 seat soccer stadium in Hamburg, Germany. This is good news because it gives Wladimir a little more time to train and recover from his abdominal tear injury, while at the same time it will give the promoters more time to market the fight.

There had been a number of other locations in Europe that were also considered, but the general belief that it was going to likely wind up in Germany because of that’s where Wladimir has the most fans and is a major star. Haye, a relative newcomer to the heavyweight ranks, found himself on the short end of the stick in terms of picking out the venue because he has much less experience in the division, has only one title compared to Wladimir’s two, and isn’t considered to be as good as the 6’6” Ukrainian star.

Wladimir has wanted to fight Haye since 2009. The two fighters came close to fighting in the summer of 2009 with Haye bailing out because of an apparent back injury. Since then, it’s been impossible for Wladimir and Haye to negotiate a fight until now. Haye has kept busy, making a habit of beating older heavyweights nearing 40. Haye has wins over John Ruiz, 38, Monte Barrett, 38, Audley Harrison 39, and Nikolay Valuev, 36. The win over Valuev was a questionable won, as many people felt that Haye didn’t do enough to really earn the decision.

Haye says he plans on retiring by his 31st birthday in October. He wasn’t to fight both Klitschko brothers by then. However, the end of the dream will be over if Haye gets beaten by Wladimir in July. The chances of Haye getting a fight with Vitali Klitschko following a loss to Wladimir are pretty slim. Haye will have been exposed already by Wladmir and the interest in seeing Vitali beat up Haye as well won’t really be there, except for perhaps in the UK. They’ll l likely continue to support Haye no matter how badly Wladimir beats him on July 2nd.