by James Slater – Now that a summer 2009 date with Vitali Klitschko has all but been ruled out due to the WBC champ opting to make good with his requirement to face mandatory contender Juan Carlos Gomez on March 21st, David Haye is hoping younger brother Wladmir will face him in his next bout. The chatter on many boxing web sites right now is all about who Wladimir, the IBF and WBO heavyweight champion, will choose to fight next.
The 32-year-old “Steel Hammer” has time to fit a voluntary defence in before his own mandatory – against unbeaten Russian Alexander Povetkin – has to be fought. Not until September does Klitschko have to meet Povetkin, therefore he has plenty of time to box a big name foe in the meantime. And Wladimir wants to keep active, very much so. Initially, it was assumed Wladimir would let his older brother take care of business with regards to closing “The Hayemaker’s” big mouth, while he himself took on exciting US heavyweight hope Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola.. But now, with Cuban Gomez getting his earned shot at Vitali, the thinking is that Wladimir will instead opt to take on Haye instead of Arreola. It is the IBF and WBO champ’s choice, and as Haye succeeded in getting under his skin even before the infamous “decapitated head” incident, the Ukrainian may well choose to face the former cruiserweight king.
Of course, all this is speculation, but Wladimir did recently refuse to officially announce Arreola as his May opponent. Which choice will the 32-year-old make? Arreola and his team will be understandably unhappy if Klitschko opts to face Haye instead of them, but there is a good chance this will be the case. Let’s face it, Wladimir wants to see Haye punished for the disrespect he and his brother feel he has shown – also, the fight would be a huge money spinner in the UK. It is thought to be unlikely that Vitali would be able to box Gomez in March and then take on Haye as soon as the originally pencilled-in date of June; therefore unless the Klitschkos want to run the risk of Haye losing to another guy first, it will be up to younger sibling Wladimir to punish the Brit in a fight this year.
There will be an official announcement from Wladimir soon, and this writer is almost sure this announcement will let it be known that Haye will get what he wants in the summer. Arreola may be angry, but in the long term his waiting another six or eight months for a shot at the title may not be such a bad thing.