by James Slater – David Haye, the new WBA heavyweight champion, talked a whole lot about “cleaning up” the division even before he’d had his second fight at heavyweight. Now, having at last lived up to his boasting by grabbing a notable belt, it’s going to be nigh on impossible to stop the 29-year-old Londoner from talking. And whereas before most fans were able to turn a deaf ear to his lofty claims, simply because he’d done next to nothing as a heavyweight, now we all have to listen, because Haye is a major player indeed in the weight class.
Though he must first allow his right hand to heal (we’re still waiting to see if or how badly it was broken in last night’s win in Germany) and then accommodate John Ruiz, his mandatory challenger with the WBA, Haye has been unable to resist talking about the two Klitschko brothers. Speaking post-fight yesterday, as has been quoted in The Sun newspaper, “The Hayemaker” said he is hugely interested in fighting his two rival title holders and in unifying the heavyweight belts..
Referred to by many as the most exciting heavyweight in the world, and a “breath of fresh air,” Haye now plans to further make a name for himself in the division he has undeniably added interest to.
“This is the start of big things to come,” Haye said of his win over Valuev. “I’m looking forward to cleaning up the division. I want anyone who has got a belt, that’s why I moved up to heavyweight. I said I wanted to be unified champion and the Klitschkos are definitely in my sights.”
Both Vitali, the WBC champion, and Wladimir, the Ring magazine and IBF, WBO champion, may be in Haye’s sights, but will either brother want to negotiate with the new WBA champ after what happened the last time they did so? You know, when both giants saw their fight with Haye fall through through no fault of their own. As much as we’d all love to see the exciting banger get it on with the two “Doctors,” the fights may well prove somewhat hard to make.
One thing is sure though, it’s going to be fun watching Haye fight. Maybe not in his next fight, with the non too fan-friendly John Ruiz, but after Haye gets that one out of the way (as he will certainly do in my opinion) the fun will really start.
Interestingly (or not, depending on your opinion) Haye has also refused to rule out the possibility of a rematch with the man he beat by majority verdict last night.
“If he gets back in line and gets some good wins under his belt then yes,” Haye said whilst being asked about a return with the 36-year-old. “I know everyone loved the fight and I’m sure he’ll come with a better strategy next time. But so will I. If the fight happens again I’ll be more than happy to do it.”
While Haye may be wrong when he says everyone “loved” last night’s fight, it’s true the action was somewhat engrossing. But when there’s the quite mouth-watering prospect of Haye getting it on with either Klitschko brother, who would really want to see him bother with the now ex-WBA champ again?
No disrespect to John Ruiz, but fingers crossed Haye beats him okay next year and then signs to take a mega-fight with Vitali or Wladimir. The heavyweight division needs it!