Haye Knows Beating A Klitschko Is His Legacy

Please leave a note in the Forum. Anyone think Haye will NEVER fight a Klitschko? F-LO guesses Haye fights Wlad sometime in mid 2012.

According to an article in the Wakefield Press last week, WBA heavyweight title holder David Haye 25-1 (23), hinted that his fight with IBF/WBO title holder Wladimir Klitschko 55-3 (49) may be back on for this coming July in Germany, with Britain and Las Vegas also being in the running. This of course is provided that Klitschko defeats Dereck Chisora 14-0 (9) on April 30th.

Haye indicated that he'd like to fight and defeat Wladimir in July and then face and defeat Vitali Klitschko 41-2 (38) in September, and then retire at age 31. In a perfect boxing world, we'd count our blessings if Haye would fight Wladimir in July, win or lose, but just go through with the damn bout. We'll worry about how Haye would fare against Vitali once he's defeated Wladimir, if he does. As most know the talk of Haye fighting either Klitschko brother has been out there ever since Haye defeated Nikolay Valuev back in November of 2009 to capture the WBA title belt. It's also widely known that a Haye versus a Klitschko bout hasn't materialized because of the reluctance on the part of David Haye, even though Haye needs to step up and take down one of the Klitschkos before he'll be acknowledged as being a legitimate heavyweight title holder.

Neither Vitali or Wladimir Klitschko need to defeat Haye or any other heavyweight in the world in order to establish their credentials as the top two heavyweights in professional boxing. Both brothers have had a strangle-hold on the division since the day Lennox Lewis retired as champ in 2004. And the only way any heavyweight contender can lay claim as to being the heavyweight champ is by meeting and defeating one of the Klitschkos.

The more time that goes by and the more Haye talks to the media, the more he looks as if he's memorized the Floyd Mayweather playbook. And he's really memorized the chapter in which it states, be vocal and loud in the press, but become silent when it looks like the fight can become a reality, and hope for someone else to beat the biggest threat to you, or wait until they're a little older. And in all fairness, that strategy serves Haye best on two fronts. One, it builds the hype and anticipation for the fans, which no doubt will translate into a bigger purse. Two, every day that goes by, both Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko age and move further away from their physical prime.

Part two is clearly what's behind Haye's actions in as far as lobbying for a fight with one of the brothers, and then pulling something out of the air suggesting why he's being disrespected and short changed. Personally, I believe Haye harbors a bit of trepidation regarding a bout with Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko. That's not saying he fears them or isn't confident in his ability to beat them. It's more along the lines of him wanting everything in his favor on the night of the fight to further prevent something from going wrong.

Prize fighting is a business. Bernard Hopkins conducts his career from a managerial vantage point beautifully. Sure, he waits for the right time, but unlike Floyd Mayweather and David Haye, there's not one fighter anyone can ever accuse Hopkins of ducking during his prime. On the other hand, Mayweather, who I'm sure is confident he can beat Manny Pacquiao, clearly projects that losing to him is more than just a possibility. And the same mindset applies to Haye regarding Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko. Surely, he believes he'd only be one big right hand away from putting Wladimir to sleep. However, he knows there's also a realistic chance that Wladimir might put him in a deep sleep first. No doubt when he looks at Vitali, he sees what he believes is a slow awkward fighter that he could use his speed and box circles around. Yet, he surely has been around long enough to understand that Vitali's awkwardness could be his biggest nightmare and lead to him waking up after he's been counted out.

Based on Haye's remarks and tweets, it looks as if the talk of him fighting Wladimir Klitschko may be heating up soon. It'll make for great copy if it does. But I'm not buying it. And the reason for that is, I get the feeling that Haye hasn't seen quite enough erosion physically from either brother. I believe Haye will try and fuel the talk of him fighting one of the brothers for the rest of this year, and then seriously look to make a bout with either Klitschko brother in mid 2012.

One thing Haye can count on for sure is, if he does become the fighter who topples Wladimir or Vitali, that's what he'll be most remembered for. In 10 years nobody will remember that they were a little long in the tooth when he finally did it. No, they'll only remember that he was the one who halted their eight plus year dominance of boxing's glamor division.

Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com

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