Wladimir Klitschko-David Haye being discussed again
by Scott Christ on May 3, 2010 5:16 AM EDT
in Boxing News Analysis
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Ruslan Chikov reports at BoxingScene.com that there are ongoing talks between the camps of Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye once again, with the target being of course a major world heavyweight championship fight, and probably the single biggest fight that can be made in that division today.
Both sides are said to have spoken with HBO about the fight, and the talks reportedly went "very well." Emanuel Steward, Klitschko's trainer, says that the goal is a September date, so long as that works for getting a venue, plus the right date for HBO and networks in the UK and Germany.
Klitschko (54-3, 48 KO) and Haye (24-1, 22 KO) nearly fought on June 19 of last year, before Haye pulled out claiming an injury. In reality, it was most likely the crash of Setanta Sports, the UK cable channel with which he had a deal to televise fights. With no TV money on his side, the fight made no sense. Instead of waiting for Haye, Klitschko fought Ruslan Chagaev for the vacant Ring Magazine world heavyweight championship, and won with ease.
Haye would later in the year negotiate with Wladimir's brother, Vitali, and a September date was allegedly set for their fight. Then, out of nowhere, Haye signed instead to fight Nikolai Valuev in November. Vitali fought and dismantled Cristobal Arreola in September, and Haye got by Valuev to win the WBA title.
Wladimir has fought just once since the Chagaev bout, as he needed surgery that put him on the shelf for months. But he returned this spring with a typically dominant performance against Eddie Chambers. Haye recently battered John Ruiz into retirement.
Last year, Haye complained of the contracts being offered to him by Team Klitschko, as he would have been required to fight too many times against the brothers should he beat Wladimir (or Vitali). With a title in his grasp and his standing now as the United Kingdom's biggest active boxing star, Haye does have a bit more to bring to the table on his end this year. Overall, if this mega-money fight is made, he'll look fairly smart for doing what he did. No doubt, he won't be getting the same offers he got last year.
And of course, we hope this fight is made. Wladimir-Haye is the biggest and best fight there is at heavyweight now, with Vitali-Haye being second in line. Simply put, the Klitschkos and Haye have built up some bad blood, gotten the media talking about the fight(s) for a while now, and made it a must-see.
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I wonder where they want to put the fight...
Wembley would probably be the best venue it could possibly go to, as the most famous football stadium in the world, but I guess its most likely going to be in Germany.
"The terror of the unforeseen is what the science of history hides, turning a disaster into an epic"
by Oli Goldstein on May 3, 2010 6:08 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Don’t count out Vegas here. This fight is not a tough sell if marketed properly, even with Haye and Klitschko not being the greatest names in the States. Big heavyweight fights always attract an audience. Always. Even when it’s Klitschko-Ibragimov.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
Could probably do a better gate in UK or Germany though
"All the time he's boxing, he's thinking. All the time he was thinking, I was hitting him." - Jack Dempsey
by Drunken cutman on May 3, 2010 6:49 AM EDT up reply actions
A Vegas site fee could be really big for this one. Chances are it’s in Germany or London, but I think Vegas is a dark horse here.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
Schaefer did say, in the midst of all that crap about Haye being the new Ali after he beat Valuev, that he wanted to put Haye on in Vegas. I guess you never know, sort of depends on whether Wlad still wants to try and crack the USA, I guess.
"The terror of the unforeseen is what the science of history hides, turning a disaster into an epic"
by Oli Goldstein on May 3, 2010 7:16 AM EDT up reply actions
Germany would probably sell much better than England
I mean, Wlad sold out a 65,000 seat stadium a couple times before. They could probably sell 90,000 at Berlin Olympic Stadium.
Scott’s right that Vegas might actually make more money of live gate (you can’t really sell seats for very much at a stadium fight, other than a few small sections on ground level right near the ring), but I think Vegas is probably out because of TV rights. Sure, HBO would probably be willing to pay about $4M for the fight, but that’s peanuts compared to what would be made off the UK PPV and the European telecasts. I see almost no way that this fight ends up going on any later than 11:30 pm German time.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
I don’t know, Haye’s become extremely popular very quickly over here. Haye’s a London boy, and I doubt he’d have much trouble selling enough tickets to come close to packing out Wembley. They sold out 20,000 or so tickets for the M.E.N., and that was against Ruiz and wasn’t even in London.
"The terror of the unforeseen is what the science of history hides, turning a disaster into an epic"
by Oli Goldstein on May 3, 2010 8:46 AM EDT up reply actions
England does have the exchange rate going for it I suppose
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
I think Germany is the best bet
They are guaranteed to sell out any stadium there. Despite all of Haye’s new found popularity here, combat sports still aren’t very big, and think 65,000 would be very unlikely.
"All the time he's boxing, he's thinking. All the time he was thinking, I was hitting him." - Jack Dempsey
by Drunken cutman on May 3, 2010 11:22 AM EDT up reply actions
It will sell out in either country
I believe that British fans will be more likely to travel to watch the fight, so Germany seems sensible. I would much rather it was Britain though as I would do my best to get a ticket!
"All the time he's boxing, he's thinking. All the time he was thinking, I was hitting him." - Jack Dempsey
would much rather it was Britain though as I would do my best to get a ticket!
HELL YEAHHHH
by Sweet science on May 3, 2010 7:44 AM EDT up reply actions
I'd like to see Haye/Vitali
first, and then if David wins—“brotherly revenge”!!
But I’ll take this in a heartbeat.
It would be nice to see Wlad come out with more ferocity than usual if he does fight haye. maybe being pissed off will help that. I’d watch either fight, wlad or vitali. Haye’s quick, but if he gets caught flush on that chin by one of the doctors, night night.
I think it will be a great fight though and help bring a little fire back to the heavyweights. Haye will probably force either brother to fight a harder earlier than we’re used to seeing. At least that’s what I would hope for.
A promise is comfort to a fool.
It was smarter all around to shelf this fight, in retrospect. Haye got to make some money and bolster his claim as a contender, and now if Wlad beats him history will smile more kindly on the win than it would have if Haye had simply beat Monte. It was a still huge fight back then, but a more meaningful one now. The division will have truly been swept clean if they meet this year for all the marbles, and of course they will make piles of money no matter which country they hold it in. I think, like SC says above, Vegas is a dark horse, though Germany is most likely. It will sell out no matter where it’s held as long as they market it “right.”
"My God, kids today think that the laces are for tying up the gloves."
-- Fritzie Zivic
Yeah
I don’t like what Haye did, but it has really paid off for him! He’s now had two 7 figure pay days against relatively unchallenging opponents, and is set to take a bigger cut in a Klitschko fight.
"All the time he's boxing, he's thinking. All the time he was thinking, I was hitting him." - Jack Dempsey
by Drunken cutman on May 3, 2010 11:25 AM EDT up reply actions
Haye isn’t the first guy to talk his way into contention, but I honestly don’t know if last year was all a game or if there was a bit of amateurish, learn-on-the-job negotiating going on. Had Sentanta not crashed and burned, would Haye have still walked and tried to go for the WBA title instead? Don’t know. There’s just something about the way Haye and Booth do interviews that makes me wonder if luck and confusion didn’t play as much of a part as strategy in getting them to this point. Still, they are in a much better position now, so you can’t argue with results.
Either way, Haye is the most interesting contender we’ve seen in a long time. He’s one of those guys who you have a feeling is very good, but at the same time wonder if it’s mostly an illusion, like a trick of the light. He looked very good against Ruiz, but it’s very hard to remember a time when John himself looked very good. He looked very tentative against Valuev, but at the same time Valuev is more of a puzzle to solve than a boxer to “fight,” and you could argue he did about as well as Holyfield in there. But then again, Holy…
It’s a great fight for the division. Lots of question marks and a fantastic energy about this fight right now. If Haye decides to fight Valuev again, and then maybe Chagaev, it will be very sad and disappointing. To be honest, I’m not even a hundred percent sure Haye would beat Chagaev, and if he lingers around in the WBA too long and gets handed a loss, he might suddenly be in a worse negotiating position than when he started. I think he should strike when the iron is hot, and it’s not going to get much hotter.
"My God, kids today think that the laces are for tying up the gloves."
-- Fritzie Zivic
He took
a lot of shit, but I agree—this path that seems to be unfolding would = smarter.
by Don From Prov on May 3, 2010 11:57 AM EDT up reply actions
Let’s do it!
This has been the most life-affirming thing for me, to know you're valued and then show your resolve to not just curl up and die,
--Nick Charles
by The Midnight Rambler on May 3, 2010 11:23 AM EDT reply actions
Haye is gonna get whipped rather easily.
A Pete Rose by any other name would still smell of cheap hookers and pinetar.
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