By James Slater: Fans have long since grown weary of David Haye’s talk of retirement or of possible retirement. Last year, after losing widely on points to Wladimir Klitschko, Haye announced his retirement – only to come back this past Saturday and make a small fortune in his winning fight with Dereck Chisora. Now, speaking with BBC, Haye says that the win over “Del Boy” could well be his final ring appearance: unless he can lure WBC heavyweight king Vitali Klitschko into giving him a title shot.
But Klitschko manager Bernd Boente insists such a fight is extremely unlikely seeing as how Team-Klitschko previously offered Haye a shot at “Dr. Iron Fist,” only for “The Hayemaker” to turn the offer down and opt to face Chisora instead.
“I’d like the opportunity to get in there and win Vitali’s title,” Haye said to BBC Sport. “But if he doesn’t want to fight me I understand that – I’m a dangerous guy. If a fight with Vitali happens down the line then fantastic. If it doesn’t, then I’ve been the undisputed cruiserweight champion and the heavyweight champion of the world. I’m happy with what I’ve done in the ring. It’s nice to finish on such a high.
“If that was my last fight then it’s a fight I’m very proud of.”
Fans may wonder if Haye’s latest talk of retiring if he cannot get a shot at Vitali is merely posturing on his part, to try and persuade Vitali to make the fight with him now or risk losing the chance to punish Haye, as Vitali has said he very much wants to do. Who knows with Haye, maybe he really means it this time when he speaks of retiring? At this point, however, Boente says Haye “means nothing to us.”
“We offered Haye the fight in September but he chose to fight Chisora instead because that was easier for him,” Boente said to The Guardian. “We had a contract ready for Haye, had booked an arena, but he turned us down for a second time – the first time he chose to face Nikolai Valuev instead.
“At the moment David Haye means nothing to us and Vitali is definitely not afraid of fighting him.”
Boente added that after the September 8th fight with Manuel Charr, Vitali will likely exit the sport and go into politics fulltime; especially if he is elected by parliament on October 28th. Boente did add that Vitali “may want to have a farewell fight” even if he is elected. Some fans are hoping this “farewell fight” will be against Haye.
So who do the fans believe? Did Haye turn down an offer to fight Vitali in September so as to go for the “easier” Chisora bout? Or is Vitai “scared” of facing a young, powerful and dangerous guy like Haye as the 31-year-old Londoner insists is the case? Frustratingly, we will probably never find out for sure.