Vitali Klitschko calls out David Haye
Now David Haye has dispatched Audley “Destiny” Harrison boxing fans around the world must brace themselves for the inevitable “will they-won’t they?” Haye v the Klitschko brothers soap opera.
In the last year all the talk has been surrounding Wladimir Klitschko as a potential Haye opponent, but now older brother Vitali Klitschko is saying he wants first crack at “The Hayemaker”.
The WBC champion told BBC five live; ''I'm ready any minute to sign a 50-50 contract. We are both world champions so let's fight. Let's make the fight in the spring time – I'm ready, the question is for David Haye.”
The bottom line is Haye needs this fight to happen. In terms of legacy Haye v Klitschko needs to happen more than Manny Pacquiao v Floyd Mayweather because “Pacman” and “Money” are established legends who have pitted themselves against the best for the majority of their careers. If those two don’t fight it will be boxing’s greatest ever “what if?” and the best bout never to happen, however they would still be remembered as greats of the sport. Haye on the other hand, certainly in the heavyweight division needs to beat a big name to leave any form of lasting impression and to revive the unlimited weight class from its comatose state.
Previous stumbling blocks have been Haye picking up injuries before scheduled fights, while further negotiations broke down after Haye’s camp decided they would prefer the British PPV rights and Klitschko can have German ones.
Klitschko seems unbothered by the finer details saying; “I hear about the great venue of Madison Square Garden for this fight. But I'm ready to fight in Germany, the United States or Great Britain. Where the most money is on the table ... let's fight in this place.''
So it’s out there for Haye and you can’t say fairer than 50-50 unless his ego has exploded after his easy victory over “A-Force”. It’s hard to see where he will earn bigger money although the Harrison fight did show fans would pay to see him fight basically anyone if it is hyped in the right way.
The heavyweight division is an embarrassment and this is the only fight that could captivate the world’s interest again. Shannon Briggs, Harrison and now Derek Chisora are not proper contenders and at least in terms of Briggs and Harrison it looks shamefully inept.
On a side note, Wladimir seems to be talked up a great deal these days doesn’t he? First it was that cringe worth Muhammad Ali entrance for his fight against Briggs, then he compared himself to the greatest and now Vitali is saying he wants first shot at Haye because; "Wladimir will kill him".
What on earth is this all about? Wladimir has never had a serious test in his life and lost to Lamont Brewster, Corrie Sanders and Ross Puritty, hardly going to put him in among the elite. In fact Vitali even at his old age is probably better than Wladimir and should prove the tougher opponent for Haye.
It will be fascinating to see how the Hayemaker gets past their robotic jabs and to see how he copes against a heavyweight of proper substance. So far in this division his toughest fight has been a past his peak John Ruiz and while "The Quietman" was a decent fighter the Ukrainian brothers are the only ones that can provide a heavyweight tilt that the whole world is interested in.
Tags: