by James Slater – It seems it is David Haye’s destiny to face one of the two Klitschko brothers in a heavyweight championship fight, even though “The Hayemaker” hasn’t exactly earned the right to do so. One of the most adept ticket sellers in the heavyweight division, Haye pretty much talked himself into a shot at IBF and WBO king Wladimir, only to have to pull out of the signed fight due to injuring his back while shadow boxing in training camp..
Hugely disappointed, as was Wladimir, it looked as though the 28-year-old puncher, who has certainly brought some excitement to his weight class even though he has had just two fights there, had lost his big chance. Now, however, according to a news article that has appeared on Sky Sports as well as a few other boxing web sites, there is a good chance Haye will get his date with a Klitschko – this one against older brother and WBC ruler Vitali.
Vitali, soon to turn 38-years-of-age, has a fight scheduled for September 12th in Germany, and Haye says there is a great chance he will be in the opposite corner.
“The back is fine and I’ve had a few sessions on it,” Haye said. “I’m looking to step up training next week and I can’t wait for the fight to be announced. If I fight Klitschko the fight will be probably be in Germany so it’s all about me going over there and doing the business.”
Now that “Dr. Iron Fist” no longer has to engage in his pointless mandatory against 40-year-old former WBC champ Oleg Maskaev, he is free to take a voluntary, and it does look like one of the Klitschko brothers is intent on making Haye pay for the now infamous “severed heads” t-shirt stunt pulled by the Brit.
There was talk that Vitali would opt to take on unbeaten US heavyweight Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola in September, but now it does look like Haye will get the big chance instead. Sure to be another huge event with many thousands of fans in attendance (the Haye-Wladimir fight would, as we know, have played out in front of well over 60,000 fans) Vitali-Haye will be a major attraction.
One question to ask – other than has Haye got any chance of beating the iron-chinned giant – is which TV company, if any, will buy rights for the fight for us fans here in the UK. With Setanta, Haye’s former sponsor, having gone bust, another network will have to buy the fight if it’s to be shown for the armchair fans in Britain. Hopefully, Sky or some other channel will allow us to see our heavyweight hero as he attempts to make his dream come true.
Going up against the man who took the huge shots of then champ Lennox Lewis, it won’t be in any way easy for Haye though. If the fight comes off in September, Haye will by then have been out of action for ten months. Hardly having had time to acclimatise himself to the heavier weight class after having moved up from cruiserweight, Haye will really be in at the deep end against Vitali, a man who has never once been on the canvas.