Vitali Klitschko offers David Haye 50-50 split for fight
WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko has laid down an offer that should remove him from the politics of blame in a bout with WBA titlist David Haye.
In a bid to fight Haye, Klitschko offered the Brit a 50-50 split purse contract, manager Bernd Boente recently confirmed. He said: “We proposed that each fighter would receive 50 per cent of the world
rights, it is a fair offer. Haye has just to agree to it.”
The offer came immediately after Klitschko demolished challenger Shannon Briggs in twelve rounds this weekend in Hamburg, Germany. Klitschko proved Briggs entirely ineffective, and managed to score roughly
as many blows as Briggs threw in the entire fight. Briggs has yet to be released from the hospital with injuries sustained in the match.
Klitschko said he was confident no other heavyweight save for his younger brother Wladimir could beat him. Though 39, he believes he is sharper than ever. With regards to Haye he said: “I would like
to knock out Haye so that we can claim the only belt missing from the family's collection. There is no-one in the world apart from my brother who can beat me, I am the strongest. I still have plenty of energy, and in a few months, I will be ready to get
back in the ring."
It is no secret to those in the boxing world that Haye has been systematically avoiding the Klitschkos since defeating Nikolai Valuev for his title back in November 2009. While Haye has publicly announced
his distaste for the brothers, he has failed to accept their offers to fight, arguing they have not treated him as a champion, but rather a challenger, and therefore offered unfair contractual terms.
Presumably Vitali’s offers is a means to sidestep said argument, though the 50-50 split might not even be enough, as Haye, despite generally being ranked lower than either Klitschko is a bigger draw.
Meanwhile Haye told the Telegraph he wasn't overly impressed by Vitali's beatdown of Briggs, and said he'd take care of the brothers after he defeats Audley Harrison.
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