By Michael Collins: Antonio Tarver (29-6, 20 KO’s) is challenging former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (25-2, 23 KO’s) to fight him next with the winner of the fight facing one of the Klitschko brothers. Tarver, 43, is interested in facing IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, whereas Haye, 31, is hoping to get a big payday cash out fight against his brother WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. Tarver wants to face Haye so one of them can move on and get that big payday against their desired Klitschko brother. I guess the loser has to make the most of whatever fights they can dig up and won’t be getting the big payday.
Tarver said to thesun.co.uk “I challenged him [Haye] a while ago and he hasn’t publicly addressed me yet, which tells me he and his whole team see me as a valid threat. He wants me to go away but I’m not. I want that fight because it makes sense for both of us. If Haye can’t beat me he doesn’t deserve Vitali and if I can’t beat him then I don’t deserve Wladimir.”
I think it would be a great fight and it would make like a tournament type of thing. Will Haye do this? Not in a million years. He was ever so careful to fight pretty much faded heavyweights when he moved up to the heavyweight division in 2008. Do you honestly think he’s going to fight someone that would have a chance to beat him and ruin his cash out fight with Vitali? Haye is just looking for a retirement payday, so he’s not going to take any risky fights. He’s not looking to stick around.
The big money he’s made in the John Ruiz and Wladimir fights has kind of knocked the ambition out of the guy. He’s probably going to take the Vitali fight later on this year, get a good payday in the process of getting knocked out, and then slink back into retirement. I don’t see that as the end of Haye. I think he might try another fight with Wladimir in 2013 if he can coax him into it. In looking at who Wladimir is facing in March, 39-year-old Jean Marco Mormeck, I can see Wladimir actually agreeing to fight Haye again just for the payday.
The German fans will flock to see a Wladimir-Haye rematch. All Haye would have to do to sell the rematch would be to mouth off a little and maybe create one of his silly t-shirts again to anger the German public. But as far as Tarver-Haye, I can’t see that fight happening. Haye only wants big money fights. If he was clever, he would take on and beat the WBA heavyweight paper champion Alexander Povetkin and then use that title as leverage to get a better deal with Vitali. However, it looks as if Haye has doubts about whether he would win that fight because he’s willing to take a smaller percentage to fight Vitali rather than take a risk.