by James Slater – It has been reported up by a number of news sources how WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko believes he is close to making a unification match with WBA champ David Haye. Apparently, Vitali, fresh off his disappointingly dull but comprehensive win over Kevin Johnson, told Ukrainian newspaper Fakty that “a preliminary agreement has already been reached” to fight the 29-year-old Londoner.
“In the near future I plan to fight Haye and take the title,” Vitali said. “The preliminary agreement has already been reached..”
This is the only word we have heard on the matter, and no further details of how this agreement was made have been released. However, it is certainly to be hoped the fight will indeed go ahead. Haye, who must fight mandatory challenger and former WBA ruler John Ruiz before he can box anyone else, was close to signing to fight the 38-year-old Klitschko back in late summer; only to agree to fight Nikolai Valuev instead.
Now, though, “The Hayemaker” says he is dreaming of a massive unification fight with Vitali, and he has said he’d love the fight to take place at Wembley towards the end of next year – after Ruiz has been taken care of.
“Wembley Stadium would be an ideal place to fight Klitschko,” Haye said recently. “We could pack it out and it would be a tremendous night for British sport. I’m looking to October or November for a massive unification fight. But that’s in the future – I have to get past Ruiz and he’s a tricky customer. I’m not overlooking Ruiz, that’s one thing I can’t afford to do. I have to make sure I’m mentally focused because the Ruiz fight is the fight that matters.”
We don’t know where Vitali would prefer the fight to take place, or if he’d be happy to come to box in London – but if he did, Haye’s right; the fight would be a great event for Britain. If the deal can be reached, and wherever the fight takes place, 2010 will be some big year for the supposedly “dying” sport of boxing. Next year could, and almost certainly will, give us the mouth-watering Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather super-fight at welterweight; and the heavyweight bonanza that would be Klitschko-Haye wouldn’t be too far behind it in the excitement stakes.
Vitali sure seems confident the fight can and will be made, but October or November is a long time away. “Dr. Iron Fist” is sure to fight someone else in the meantime; but who? There has been some talk of him facing former two-time WBA boss Valuev, but would that fight prove attractive to the fans now that “The Russian Giant” has been beaten for a second time?
Vitali has had a good and active year in 2009; but after his awful-to-watch fight with the negative Johnson, what he really could do with next is an exciting fight. One with Haye would do the trick!