Vitali’s manager wants him to retire rather than fight Haye if he wins office

By Boxing News - 09/24/2012 - Comments

Image: Vitali's manager wants him to retire rather than fight Haye if he wins officeBy William Mackay: Bernd Boente, the manager for WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (45-2, 41 KO’s), prefers that Vitali retire rather than fight on if he wins a political position in the October elections in Ukraine. Vitali is the head of the UDAR party in Uraine and will be taking part in the parliamentary elects next month. He’s got a great chance of getting elected to the seat, and he’s already talked about possibly retiring if that happens.

Boente told the German news organization Sport Bild “If Vitali gets a role after the elections where he can make a difference, I suppose that would be the end of his career. As a friend and manager, that’s what I would advise. The fight for democracy and against corruption is more important than a fight against David Haye.”

Some boxing fans might believe that Boente is against Vitali fighting Haye even if Vitali chooses not to retire. Haye perhaps feels that way, because he’s been trying to land a fight against Vitali since last year and hasn’t had much luck in getting the big Ukrainian to take the fight with him despite the fact that it would make a lot more money than Vitali’s recent fights against Dereck Chisora and Manuel Charr.

Haye believes that Vitali is running scared of him, and sees Vitali running for parliament as a way for him to get out of facing him in the ring and possibly suffering an embarrassing loss.

Vitali did look bad in struggling to a 12 round decision win over Dereck Chisora earlier this year. Vitali looked stressed out out of breath from the pressure that Chisora put on him for that fight. Haye turned around and fought Chisora last July and easily beat him by a 5th round TKO. Haye was rarely hit by Chisora, and used his speed and power to give him a beating before stopping him. Vitali, 6’7″, didn’t have the speed to keep out of the way of Chisora. He was forced to move a lot and spear him with right hands after injuring his left early in the fight in the 2nd round. Fighting with only one hand, Vitali had a real tough time against someone who both Haye and the green Tyson Fury had effortlessly beaten.

Haye still has a chance of getting a fight with Vitali, but it might hinge on whether Vitali is elected to office next month or not. If he gets elected, then it’s probable that he’ll choose to retire rather than fighting on. The only thing that could change that is if Vitali gets the desire to get one last payday fight against Haye so that he can try and improve on the performance of his brother Wladimir Klitschko, who beat Haye by a wide 12 round decision last year in July. It’s a tough fight for Vitali, though, because Hayes hand speed and power make him a tough match-up. Vitali doesn’t have Wladimir’s great footwork, his jab, fast hands or power. Vitali can punch and use his height to his benefit, but he’s a lot slower than Haye and might struggle. against him.



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