By William Mackay: Former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye is very interested in tonight’s fight between Alexander Povetkin and Ruslan Chagaev as they fight for Haye’s old WBA heavyweight title in Germany. Haye will be following the action as a curious observer. I can see Haye choosing the winner of this fight if they look terrible. But if the winner is impressive in any way, I doubt Haye will take that fight. It wouldn’t fit with his pattern of facing mostly depleted heavyweights on the slide.

It’s unknown if Haye will fight again, but he’s made it clear that he wants to fight IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. That’s not going to happen with Haye not doing anything to redeem himself in the boxing public’s eyes after his one-sided loss to Wladimir last July. However, if Haye were to take on the winner of the the Povetkin vs. Chagaev fight, that would be the best way for Haye to get his badly wanted rematch with Wladimir.

Personally, I think Haye should take the offer to fight WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko for his next fight. A win over Vitali would be the perfect setup for a rematch with Wladimir. Haye would get huge money for the Vitali bout, win or lose, and it wouldn’t be such a big deal if he lost because Vitali is fighting really well right now. However, I can understand why Haye would want no part of Vitali because he would take a beating in that fight. This is why it seems like a good idea for Haye to fight the winner of the Chagaev-Povetkin fight if Haye isn’t into taking a big money risk against Vitali. If he’s into safety, then Chagaev vs. Povetkin winner is the way to go. It’s about all he can get if he’s not going to man up and fight Vitali, because Wladimir is turned off with beating him again.