By James Slater – There are reports all over the place right now, that suggest the long awaited Wladimir Klitschko-David Haye heavyweight unification battle is tantalisingly close to happening; with both fighters saying they are pretty sure the fight will at last go ahead on July 2nd in Europe. We’ve been here before, of course, and no-one wants to jump the gun and believe the fight is a definite. After all, Wladimir has to get past Derek Chisora on that April 30th defence he insisted on making, and as we know, anything can happen in a heavyweight fight.
Still, there are many fingers currently crossed, with the hope being the big fight goes ahead in July. And one man who feels he knows who will win if and when “Dr. Steel Hammer” and “The Hayemaker” collide, is Oscar De La Hoya.. For a while now, ever since Haye became co-promoted by Oscar’s Golden Boy company, the former multi-weight world champion has said he feels Haye can beat Klitschko. Speaking with Sky Sports News recently, the future Hall of Famer went further; stating how he feels Haye is powerful enough and fast enough to knock Wladimir out.
“David Haye’s a great athlete, which is one of his advantages over Klitschko,” Oscar said. “He can be one of the fighters to knock out a Kitschko – he’s that powerful. He’s fast, a thinker, he can surprise Klitschko I believe. Klitschko’s a great fighter, a big guy, so it’s a dangerous fight for David, but I believe it’s a very winnable fight for Haye.”
De La Hoya, like so many of us, wants to see the fight happen after all the talk, after all the hype and after all the accusations. Haye recently said he is “90-percent sure” the fight will go ahead on July 2nd, and Wladimir said on Wednesday that he too is confident it will take place.
Haye, the WBA belt holder, spoke with BBC Sport this week.
“One way or another my next fight is going to be in July,” Haye said. “I am hoping it is going to be against Wladimir Klitschko. I believe we are pretty close to agreeing.”
Haye told BBC that Ruslan Chagaev, the former WBA champ, is definitely out now; due to how Chagaev was unable to get a license to box in England (due to his long bout with Hepatitis no doubt). Haye was, at one time, in negotiations to fight unbeaten Alexander Povetkin in case Chagaev was unacceptable, but there has been no mention of Povetkin now that the Klitschko fight is seemingly so close to at last being made.
But, as Haye said, he will not now fight again until July, whoever it‘s against. That will be eight months on from his easy win over Audley Harrison, and the month of July will leave Haye with just under four months to fight until his planned October retirement. All I can say is, Haye had better get his big fight with Klitschko in July, because if it falls apart again and he faces someone else that month and then retires a few months later, his entire heavyweight career will be remembered as one huge letdown!