By James Slater – A couple of years or so ago, Londoner David Haye, then having recently stepped up from the cruiserweight division he had all-but unified, had some now infamous T-shirts made that showed him triumphantly holding the severed heads of both Klitsschko brothers. This bit of hype was a step too far in the minds of the two siblings from Ukraine and ever since, both have vowed to punish Haye for what he did.
Yesterday, in light of the Haye-Wladimir Klitschko fight being officially announced (at long last) as being on for the summer, Haye vowed to rip off the head of the Ring Magazine, WBO, IBF, IBO champ for real – when they meet in the ring in Germany!
No doubt, when “Dr. Steel Hammer” reads the latest threats slung his way by “The Hayemamker” he will feel adder fire for combat himself. The fans can’t wait for this one, and it seems neither can the reigning WBA heavyweight champion.
“Everybody knows the needle that has gone back and forth over the years between me and Wladimir,” Haye told Sky Sports. “ I was the number-one cruiserweight, and when I stepped up everybody said he was the heavyweight I had to beat to call myself number-one. We’re gonna find out who the unified champion is, and I know it’s going to be me Wladimir got precious, he wanted the fight in Germany, but that’s fine by me.
“I can’t wait to get Wladimir Klitschko across the ring so that I can run across and absolutely tear his head off. As long as there is a referee who can count to ten, I will be champion.”
Bold words indeed by Haye who, we must not forget, has had just five fights as a heavyweight. Will Haye’s desire for combat, pent up even further by all the longwinded negotiations this fight has been delayed by, inspire him to actually go out and try and rush Wladimir, to try and rough him up? And if Haye does adopt such tactics, will he be made to pay the price or will he take advantage of Wladimir’s still-suspect chin?
Haye did add that he wants no excuses once he’s beaten Wladimir, and that he wants the 34-year-old to ensure he is injury-free come fight time.
“Make sure you train hard, make sure whatever injuries you have are healed, because I don’t want to hear any excuses,” Haye said directly to Klitschko. “Get a clean doctor’s note so that after I knock you spark out there’s no arguments that I am the number-one fighter on the planet.”
It will be interesting to see if Wladimir does respond to these latest fighting words by Haye; whether or not the giant who has KO’d almost 50 opponents has some fearsome promise of his own for the man who has been his verbal tormentor for so many months.
But Haye says he is also targeting big brother Vitali, the WBC ruler.
“Vitali has a fight coming up and fingers crossed I am really hoping he doesn’t lose that fight,” he said. “I’m hoping he somehow holds onto that WBC belt. Once I beat his brother, I’m hoping the big brother will come to settle the score.”
Could we, after all the hot air, be on the verge of seeing Haye fight BOTH Klitschko brothers, back to back?