By Vitali Shaposhnikov: David Haye has recently announced that Vitali Klitschko has finally agreed to fight in some time in the summer. “Vitali has just finally agreed to fight me in a live RTL interview!!! He told me I will be his next fight!! Let’s Get Ready To Rumble!!!” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/mar/04/david-haye-vitali-klitschko)
“Yes I would be happy to fight David Haye. I understand David Haye had to defend himself. It’s not just street fighting. It’s very important to have respect,” was what Vitali commented regarding the prospective bout and his challenger.
After his lackluster performance against Vitali’s brother Wladimir, most people are not too enthusiastic about seeing Haye back in the ring. At the same time, a whole lot of people believe that the older brother will achieve what the younger was unable to accomplish” knock David Haye out.
I assume that the fight build up will be impressive, and Haye will be his old self, talking like a pro. He will make promises and try to convince the public that he will do to the older brother what he promised to do to the younger one, a knockout. The fight, if ever comes to fruition, will undoubtedly be of interest just for its recent historical development, and financially it will be successful.
Of course as most fights go, claims of avoidance and unjust conduct will fly.
“I have offered Dave Haye the opportunity to fight for the world title. I need Haye to say ‘yes,’” said Vitali Klitschko in a recent interview.
Still, Haye believes that team Klitschko will do everything to prevent the fight from happening: “I think Vitali wants to fight me, because he has got a lot of pride. But I think he’s had a lot of money invested in him to become the mayor of Kiev, and potentially the president of Ukraine, and his advisers, and the people who do his negotiating aren’t going to let Vitali’s ego get in the way of something that could potentially cost him tens of millions of pounds. There is so much riding on his political career, he wants to fight guys like Dereck Chisora, who he can guarantee a victory over. Fighting me is not in his interests. The word in Ukraine is that his people cannot afford for him to lose against me, or not knock me out, as he has told the Ukrainian people he will do what his brother could not do and knock me out.”
(http://www.worldboxingnews.net/2012/03/haye-advisers-may-divert-vitali-from.html)
“I’ve already agreed the finances for the fight. But all of a sudden I am asking for too much money and supposedly making crazy demands. I have agreed to one of my lowest purses for a heavyweight title fight. I understand I’m not the champion now so I can’t demand the type of money I would as champion,” mentioned Haye.
Money talks, and money walks: there is no way Haye was perfectly fine with getting ripped off in any fight. He, just like most other athletes, is mostly interested in maximizing his payday. To do this, he has to create public interest in the fight, thus make emotional waves for the media. Slowly, this ‘show’ is picking up, and I assure you we will start seeing a ton of coverage on this fight.
While I don’t think that Haye will be more competitive against Vitali than he was against Wladimir, I still would like to see this fight happen. Who knows maybe Haye could perform better and provide his fans with an entertaining fight?