Wladimir Klitschko became the Ring Magazine heavyweight champion of the world with an easy victory over Ruslan Chagaev in Germany. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)

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Wladimir Klitschko kept his WBO/IBF/IBO titles and also became the legitimate heavyweight champion of the world with an easy, dominant victory over previously-unbeaten Ruslan Chagaev in front of over 60,000 fans in Germany. Chagaev retired after the ninth round due to a cut, having lost every round and being knocked down in the second frame.

Klitschko (53-3, 47 KO) won basically every second of the fight, only caught a handful of solid punches from Chagaev, and didn't even have to mix it up, really. He was super robotic Klitschko, and Chagaev was too slow and small to do anything about it. Jab, jab, jab, jab, jab, jab, jab, jab, and then a 1-2. There was a point where Klitschko had Chagaev in the corner and went to the same well about four times before Chagaev finally moved his head out of the firing line. The fight was completely non-competitive.

For Chagaev (25-1-1, 17 KO) this isn't a dream-ender, but his deteriorating (?) health, lack of global name, lack of excitement and southpaw stance isn't going to do him any favors. He was clearly not in Klitschko's class, not that many of Wladimir's recent opponents have seemed as though they were.

The fight, as we said, was significant, but not a great watch. I didn't hate it, perhaps if only because I've seen so many worse Klitschko fights. But there's no arguing that this was a good, remotely exciting fight, and there's nothing about it that would have made someone want to watch boxing again if they weren't already a fan.

On a final note, ESPN had Robert Flores and BJ Flores commentating, as Brian Kenny and Joe Tessitore were unavailable. BJ is a terrible fighter to watch ply his trade, but on the mic he's pretty competent and probably has a better future there than in the ring. Robert Flores, however, was clearly half-clueless at best about his subject and did a terrible job the entire fight. The next time neither Kenny nor Tessitore are available, let's pray ESPN doesn't send Robert Flores to call a fight. I'm even handicapping for the fact that they weren't in Germany and thus were out of the atmosphere and, to some degree, the moment itself. It was brutal.

The fight will be live on ESPN Classic at 5pm ET. Join us to crown a new world heavyweight champion!

via d.yimg.com

For the vacant Ring Magazine World Heavyweight Championship

Wladimir Klitschko and Ruslan Chagaev square off Saturday for the vacant Ring Magazine world heavyweight championship, as well as the WBO, IBF, IBO and WBA titles. (PHILIPP GUELLAND/AFP/Getty Images)

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We're going to do both of this weekend's cards to be RBR'd here at Bad Left Hook. I know some folks haven't seen much of Diaconu in particular, but many of you have, and if anyone wants to not pick that fight, that's up to them.

Adrian Diaconu v. Jean Pascal (Vs. Network, Friday - Light Heavyweights, 12 Rounds - Diaconu's WBC title on the line)

Diaconu (26-0, 15 KO) won the interim WBC title last year in a fight against Chris Henry in Romania, which was picked up by Don King for one of his webcasts, but then crapped out before the fight could finish and everyone watching there missed the ending. It was a good fight, and the last time Henry looked very good, and it was a really close fight, too. Diaconu is no world-beater. He's unbeaten, but Pascal might be the best fighter he's faced.

Pascal (22-1, 15 KO) not only says that he and Diaconu sparred in the past (and guess who got the better of it, according to JP?) but says he should have no problems moving up to 168 because it means he can take it easier with his weight and eat what he wants. This is always a dangerous mindset. Kelly Pavlik thought he'd be better and stronger at 170 pounds, but what happened was he was weak and tired easily, probably in part because he just wasn't used to carrying that extra weight when doing his job, and because camp hadn't been such a grueling affair. 99.9% of fighters cut a good amount of weight to fight; the guys that don't often have real problems. Fighting at the walkin' around weight has a habit of troubling guys.

I've said it a lot about Pascal, because I like him more than many do: He's quick, but he's not that quick. He's got power, but it's not amazing. He's got good hand speed, but it's not exceptional. When he fights like he thinks he's a prime Roy Jones, he gets in trouble. When he fights like he wants to beat the other guy and prove something, he can be really good, as his December war with Carl Froch (his only loss) proved. If this is the Jean Pascal that took Froch 12 hard rounds, I think he beats Diaconu, but then I'm not sure how much real grit Diaconu has either. Maybe he has it in spades.

This is a genuine 50-50 fight. The last time Versus snagged a good, competitive, under the radar bout, Cunningham-Adamek broke out on our TVs. This could be a good one, too. Pascal SD-12

Wladimir Klitschko v. Ruslan Chagaev (ESPN Classic, Saturday, 5pm - Heavyweights - Vacant Ring Magazine world championship on the line; Klitschko's WBO, IBF and IBO titles on the line; Chagaev's WBA title on the line)

For as significant as this fight is, it boils down to two very simple things:

1. If Chagaev is at his best and can break through the Klitschko jab, anything can happen. He's not a huge hitter, but Klitschko isn't the sturdiest guy and didn't really prepare to fight a southpaw on this date.
2. If Chagaev can't get inside, Wladimir will paw at him, occasionally throw something semi-meaningful, and cruise to a decision where he doesn't so much win as the other guy sure as hell doesn't win, a la Ibragimov.

I'm taking door number two. Klitschko UD-12

June 20th was supposed to be a huge day for heavyweight boxing, and it still is. With the good comes the bad: David Haye pulling out of his WBO/IBF/IBO title bout with Wladimir Klitschko was just rotten news for those of us looking forward to what promised to be a cracking, exciting heavyweight fight. While Klitschko was the heavy favorite, the athletic, powerful, and risk-taking Haye looked a more daunting task for the long-standing best heavyweight in the world, whose last batch of fights has failed to inspire anything more than apathy and sometimes outright disgust from boxing fans.

Into the breach stepped Ruslan Chagaev, an unbeaten WBA title half-holder whose May 30 rematch with Nikolai Valuev was scrapped when Chagaev failed to pass Finnish medical standards. Apparently, he's perfectly healthy enough to go into a German ring and bleed, but that's another story for another time.

Chagaev and Klitschko will decide the vacant Ring Magazine world heavyweight championship, the belt of belts among those who know their boxing, the only one that seemingly has any standards whatsoever, and the only one that doesn't get passed around like a hot potato. No interim titlists, no mandatory challengers, no sanctioning fees. Just the championship. With Klitschko ranked No. 1 by the magazine and his brother, Vitali, ranked No. 2, The Ring rightly decided that this was absolutely the proper circumstance to decide a vacant championship in a bout between No. 1 and No. 3 (Chagaev).

It is a significant fight, arguably the most important the division has seen in years. Since Vitali's 2005 retirement, the title has been vacant, and when Vitali came back last year and immediately leapt back to No. 2 with a dominant win over Samuel Peter, it looked to stay that way for some time.

But however crooked the road, the destination has been reached: Klitschko-Chagaev is a deserving championship filler. It's just too bad the fight is going to stink.

HBO passed on this bout in large part because it's just not going to be worth the money. Brickhaus detailed why exactly in a recent post, and it's a recommended read for those unfamiliar with either man. Here's the real point to take to heart, though:

While there are a number of reasons they didn't pick up the fight, including budget, that they don't have a current contract with Klitschko like they used to and that fights between two non-English non-Spanish speakers don't tend to do well stateside, the real reason they didn't pick it up is simply because the fight itself will probably stink.  The stylistic matchup between Klitschko and Haye, two big punchers with shaky whiskers, provided the promise of fireworks; this fight, instead, provides the promise of a cure for insomnia.

It is not meant as disrespect to either man. Klitschko's greatest strength these days is that he knows his weaknesses and his limitations, and he is what may amount to trainer Manny Steward's last great success. Since coming under Steward's wing, Klitschko has fine-tuned himself, become a jab machine, and refused to fight inside, which is where any opponent needs to get to have a chance at testing his questionable chin. Chagaev is hardly light on his feet out there; chances are really, really good that he winds up on the receiving end of Klitschko's jab all night, and finding himself trapped in hugs if he does manage to come in. Klitschko also knows he struggles with southpaws, and has turned into a cat sparring with a ball of yarn to combat it.

It's great that ESPN picked the fight up and are sticking it on ESPN Classic, Saturday at 5pm. We'll be here with round-by-round coverage and I'm looking forward to it, but I'm also 80% sure this fight will be a clunker, a dreadful bore. It's not a big limb to go out on, either.

This is simply meant as a warning to those going, "Ah, a big heavyweight fight. Maybe it won't stink." It's probably going to. Don't get your hopes up. After all, haven't you been burned enough by the big boys in recent years?

After years of making crappy showcase fights and airing insignificant Klitschko blowouts, Ross Greenburg suddenly can't be bothered to air a significant Klitschko fight just because the fight will probably stink. Part of me wants to applaud him, and part of me wants to kick him in the groin.

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As everyone knows by now, Ross Greenburg and HBO have declined to pick up the newly scheduled fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Ruslan Chagaev.  While there are a number of reasons they didn't pick up the fight, including budget, that they don't have a current contract with Klitschko like they used to and that fights between two non-English non-Spanish speakers don't tend to do well stateside, the real reason they didn't pick it up is simply because the fight itself will probably stink.  The stylistic matchup between Klitschko and Haye, two big punchers with shaky whiskers, provided the promise of fireworks; this fight, instead, provides the promise of a cure for insomnia.  There are a number of reasons for this:

• Wlad can't handle lefties.  This isn't entirely true - he can beat lefties, and he probably has a better resume against lefties than any heavyweight in history.  Twice he's beaten Chris Byrd, who at the time of their second matchup was the #1 ranked heavyweight in the world.  He beat Sultan Ibragimov, a beltholder, to unify titles.  He beat Tony Thompson, a crafty southpaw who was game but just got outgunned.  But he got his ass kicked by Corrie Sanders, and ever since then, he's changed his style against southpaws.  What do the Byrd, Ibragimov and Thompson fights all have in common?  They were all B-O-R-I-N-G.  Rather than even risk being caught by a big left hand, Wlad just pawed out the jab (and I mean literally pawed, not the nice, stiff jab you usually see from Wlad) to keep these guys at a distance, and won rounds by virtue of not letting his opponent mount any offense.  It wasn't that Wlad hit them so much, it was that his opponents threw nothing back at him, simply because they had no clue how to get on the inside.  Not that I want to torture you with this, but here's what I mean, highlights from Klitschko-Ibragimov.  Keep in mind, these are the HIGHLIGHTS, the most exciting the fight got at any point during this complete dud of a fight.

• Chagaev has looked like crap lately.  Chagaev had a good win over John Ruiz, the only loss of Ruiz's career (other than his destruction by David Tua) that he didn't dispute afterwards.  He also had a solid and clear victory over Valuev, someone who has "beaten" a bunch of fighters because they haven't beaten him clearly enough.  But ever since Chagaev came down with Hepatitis, he's looked lethargic and powerless.  He struggled against journeyman Michael Sprott.  He struggled against nobody Carl Davis Drumond.  He's lacked snap on his punches, and he's lacked the head and body movement that allowed him to get inside on Valuev and punish his body.  A Chagaev who can't get on the inside stands no shot against Klitschko, and a Chagaev stuck on the outside is, well, Sultan Ibragimov.  And once again, that fight stunk.  Here's what I mean by Chagaev looking not like his old self:

• Even if Chagaev can get on the inside, it will turn into a hugging match.  One more side-effect of training under Manny Steward for years and having a shoddy chin is that Klitschko doesn't even bother trying to fight on the inside.  He knows his strength is on the outside, and he stands more of a chance of catching a shot he doesn't see coming on the inside, so any time someone gets inside on him, he just grabs up and clinches.  It's very effective, but makes for a boring fight.  Chagaev doesn't have the strength to get him to stop, and he doesn't have the quickness to pop back on the outside, like Haye might have been able to do.  The clearest example of these hugfest tactics came in the Brock fight, where EVERY time Brock got inside, Klitschko just smothered him and clinched.  He has a history of doing this to smaller fighters as well.

All of this said, Klitschko-Chagaev is still a significant fight and should be picked up by someone.  ESPN and MSG have both been known to pick up fights on short notice when they can get a good one on the cheap.  Showtime and Versus would each be expected to pay much less than HBO for the fight, although I question whether anything at all would fit into Versus' budget - that horrible NHL contract of theirs has to be bleeding them dry.  In the worst case scenario, there's still enough time to set it up as a pay-per-view.  A fight that will create a new Ring belt holder, and depending on your view of things, possibly the first lineal champion at heavyweight in five years, really should be on TV, even if it projects to be a snoozer.

Wladimir Klitschko's June 20 fight with Ruslan Chagaev will not be televised by HBO, though the company has gladly offered up far less intriguing fights from Klitschko in recent times. (via zimbio)

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Wladimir Klitschko has decided to face Ruslan Chagaev on June 20, with his alphabet straps and the vacant Ring Magazine world heavyweight championship on the line rather than wait for the possibility of fighting David Haye on July 11, Dan Rafael reports.

HBO has passed on airing Klitschko-Chagaev, as it had been said they would. It's kind of a shame when you really think about it. I know the economy is what it is and everyone's tightening the belts, but Klitschko-Chagaev is a far more interesting and more significant fight than any of his last six fights, all of which were aired by HBO. The Ibragimov stinker of 2008 had some significance since it unified Ibragimov's WBO title with Klitschko's IBF/IBO pair, but we're crowning a real world champion now, and Chagaev is a tough proposition, a lefty with some thump who's in his prime years. If he beats Klitschko, don't be stunned. Klitschko-Chagaev isn't as intriguing a fight as Klitschko-Haye was, but it beats the crap out of the bombs that HBO has fed us from Wladimir the last few years. It's disappointing that they passed. Maybe I'm the only one that feels that way, but we all put in time watching those rotten fights, and here comes the most interesting one he's had in years and American fans will be looking to internet feeds from Germany.

For the record, the Ring Magazine championship will be joined by Klitschko's WBO, IBF and IBO titles as well as Chagaev's WBA title. All are on the line in this one.

This whole goofy heavyweight scenario of the last week is really worth a recap, just so you can wrap your brains around it: Chagaev's rematch with Nikolai Valuev is scrapped because of Chagaev having Hepatitis B, and the Finnish regulators putting the kibosh on that whole mess. Chagaev, a week later, is healthy enough to fight in Germany, replacing Haye, who pulled out because of a back injury that will be fixed with physical therapy within three weeks' time.

There's a whole lot to not like about both situations (and this one, honestly), but at the end of the day we're getting a totally legit fight for the division.

I think it's also worth saying that maybe Klitschko taking this fight and not waiting on the chance that Haye will be ready to go in a few weeks is Wladimir and his team sending a bit of an F-you to Haye, who talked and wore borderline obscene shirts and really got under Wlad's skin during their press tour, only to pull out of the fight. With Klitschko taking the Chagaev fight, it puts Haye at the end of the line. Alexander Povetkin is the next mandatory for Klitschko assuming Wladimir beats Chagaev, and then there's Chris Arreola waiting for a mandatory shot, too. Haye now has to fight someone.

On that topic, Rick Reeno of BoxingScene.com is reporting that Arreola and Haye just might work out a fight. It's a very attractive TV matchup, a potential cracker of a fight, and would feel in many ways like a true eliminator. Neither guy has beaten the top competition at heavyweight and, frankly, questions surround both.

But a fight between Arreola and Haye is not even close to a done deal. If Dan Goossen and Arreola have their druthers, they'll be fighting WBC titlist Vitali Klitschko in the near future. Vitali's case against the WBC -- which is trying to make the titlist fight about 38 mandatories in a row thanks to their absurd rankings and presents to fighters like Oleg Maskaev, of all the people -- will soon be hashed out. If Vitali gets his way, he'll fight Arreola, apparently. If he doesn't, Arreola-Haye is a real possibility, and Vitali will be stuck fighting Maskaev and trying to land that fight on HBO or Showtime despite its complete lack of appeal.

One more bit about Haye: Everyone in his camp is "baffled" his injury, but Nick Peet of the Liverpool Echo says that Setanta's money troubles are not to blame. The injury is legit, he says.

• Golden Boy super prospect Daniel Jacobs will be back in action on the June 26 edition of ESPN2 Friday Night Fights, facing 35-year old George Walton (20-3, 12 KO). Jacobs last fought on the Hatton-Pacquiao undercard, beating tough, durable veteran Michael Walker over eight rounds. I guess that might've been the fight of the night, huh?
• Kassim the Dream has a review from Daniel Eagan, one of those "ehhh" reviews. Best part: "Ouma clearly enjoys playing to the camera, and he is expert at gauging what his listeners want to hear, whether they are drug dealers or congressional representatives." Another non-glowing review of the movie can be read here. The movie currently sits at 50% (3 out of 6) at Rotten Tomatoes. Frankly, it sounds like it's just not that good.
  
• Here's an incredibly fresh look at how MMA is killing boxing because boxing is boring and no MMA fight is ever bad. It's really about time someone said something. I've been trying to hold back for years, but I have to just say it: MMA is more popular than boxing these days. I know -- I know...
• Alabama's Deontay Wilder (who will be on the Jacobs-Walton FNF card) talks about the Boxing Act he's helped push in his home state. Even if he never pans out, he's already done a great service to the sport in Alabama. That's a dude worth rooting for.
• In case you missed it and are Paul Spadafora's cousin who might care, Spadafora has hired Pernell Whitaker to train him. Where he's getting the money to pay "Sweet Pea" is beyond me since he never fights and no one cares when he does. Most interesting in the story is that Spadafora is working with Whitaker because his trainer, Jesse Reid, has gone to the Wild Card in California to replace Michael Moorer as Freddie Roach's chief assistant.
• Former boxer Charles "Duke" Tanner (19-0, 11 KO from 1998-2004) of Hammond, Indiana, was sentenced to life in prison for drug trafficking.
• Gabriel Montoya of Maxboxing has a nice feature on Amir Khan, who says he can still make 135 if he needs to. Freddie Roach says they'd be willing to fight Ricky Hatton at 140, or Juan Manuel Marquez at 135 or 140. I think talking about what's next for Khan is pretty foolish considering Andriy Kotelnik is a top five-ish guy at 140.
• Despite what seemed to be some recent problems between the two sides, Kelly Pavlik will be staying with Top Rank. He plans to sign a new, two-year deal with the company.

After being denied a chance to fight Nikolai Valuev for a second time, Ruslan Chagaev could find himself fighting Wladimir Klitschko to crown the first lineal world heavyweight champion since 2005. (via www.boxnews.com.ua)

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Setanta reports that Wladimir Klitschko is currently deciding on whether to wait until July 11 for fight David Haye, or to go ahead with his June 20 date against Ruslan Chagaev -- a fight that would be for The Ring world heavyweight championship, and would crown the first lineal champion since Vitali Klitschko retired in 2005.

David Haye will be ready to fight Wladimir Klitschko on July 11, though Ruslan Chagaev could meet the Ukrainian instead on June 20.

Both Haye's manager Adam Booth and Klitschko's equivalent Bernd Bonte spoke to Steve Bunce's Boxing Hour about Haye's pull-out from their scheduled bout due to a back injury.

Booth insisted Haye will be ready to take the ring three weeks later than the scheduled date, but Bonte says Klitschko, at present, would rather meet Chagaev - though the terms of this fight still need to be negotiated.

"It is still a possibility but our first priority is Chagaev, but that fight is not a done deal," Bonte told Setanta Sports News.

"The important question is are RTL happy to go on July 11? Are HBO ready to go three weeks later?

"The stadium will be okay for July 11. Chagaev would be a big fight. It would be for The Ring belt. I have got confirmation from The Ring [magazine]."

As much as I prefer Klitschko-Haye to Klitschko-Chagaev, the promoters are right to worry whether or not HBO would have that date open (they likely could make room, but three weeks is short notice) and the Ring title part makes the alternative attractive for everyone. It'd be nice to once again be able to call someone "heavyweight champion" instead of "WBC/WBO/WBA/IBF/IBO titleholder."

I'll admit that it does sort of bother me that Chagaev is apparently not healthy enough to fight in Finland, but by German standards he's OK to potentially bleed all over or whatever.

Wladimir Klitschko's management has told the world that the show will go on with or without David Haye, and that they will find another top heavyweight to take his place.  Their attitude is that Wlad is the main attraction anyway, which may be true, but doesn't make me much less disappointed.  There are only so many fighters who would be willing to take on such a dangerous opponent on such short notice, and chances are that it will need to be someone already in training camp or who just finished a training camp.

• According to Sportone (link in Polish), Wlad's camp approached Tomasz Adamek as the replacement.  This apparently happened just before the Gunn fight was officially announced, so his camp has probably known that Haye was going to pull out for a few days now, at least.  Adamek's a smallish cruiserweight, and would make little sense to take on any heavyweight, much less a huge one, on short notice.  
• Wladimir has called out Cristobal Arreola.  This seems like a ploy more than anything.  While you could make the argument that Cris is always out of shape, he still does take off a fair amount of weight before fights, and it's pretty obvious that he doesn't train full-time like some guys do.  Dan Goossen says he isn't ready...
• ...but that James Toney is.  I'm not sure how good Goossen's information is, since he and Toney split up not too long ago, but he says that Toney would be ready to go.  Sadly, I could see the networks approving this one, although it would go from being the most exciting heavyweight fight in years to the most boring.  A fight between those two, and probably not more than 10 punches land a round. 
• Kevin Johnson wants his shot.  Uh, that would be the step up we're looking for Kingpin.  There's a big difference between Devin Vargas and Wladimir Klitschko.  I guess that's one way to cash out, but KJ hasn't fought a top 100 heavyweight yet, and couldn't possibly be close to prepared for Wlad.  But frankly, STILL nobody knows who the hell you are. 
  
• Odlanier Solis also says he's ready and willing.  I'm not sure Solis could go a hard 12 if he wanted to.  Right now he has a 10 rounder scheduled with Fres Oquendo coming up.  Seems more like a ploy to me than anything.  If K2 called him up and made a legitimate offer, I doubt Solis would take it up.
  
• According to news reports on German television, Nicolai Valuev is officially out.  On one hand, it's hard to blame him because he'd get his ass kicked, and as long as he can hold onto a belt, he can probably negotiate a big fight later on for which he would have full time to prepare.  On the other hand, it's just a wimpy move.  He just seems to have very little desire to prove that he's the best, probably because he knows he's not even close to being the best.
• No actual rumors here, but my speculation says that the other candidates who make sense include Ruslan Chagaev (he just finished camp, and has been medically cleared in Germany before), Kali Meehan (already trained for a fight on the Chagaev undercard), Lamon Brewster (we don't need a trilogy), Oliver McCall (just had a relatively easy fight), Taras Bidenko (has a 12-rounder this weekend, if his promoters want to cancel it), and if worse really comes to worse, Tye Fields (who's training for a fight the same night, but who probably wouldn't last a round).  Eddie Chambers and Alexander Dimitrenko are also possibilities, but I really doubt that's in the cards - neither one is far enough into training camp to cut it short, and the winner's going to get a title shot anyway, so why push it to try before you're in shape?
• Haye himself hopes the card just gets cancelled, since he thinks he could reschedule for July.

The nature of Haye's injury is unknown, but I imagine it's something like a decapitation. via The Daily Mail

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According to Setanta Sports, David Haye has pulled out of his upcoming fight with Wladimir Klitschko due to an injury.  The nature of the injury has not been specified.  According to the report:

The British hope suffered the problem in training ahead of the eagerly-anticipated bout, which is to be screened live on Setanta.

It will be a heartbreaking blow for Haye, who championed long and hard for the opportunity to shake up the division by taking on the best in the business.

His controversial tactics in goading the Klitschko brothers into action caused a stir but, ultimately, it secured him his crack at Wladimir on June 20. 

An independent verification of the injury is required before a decision on the future of the fight can be confirmed and a new date fixed for the Schalke showdown.

 A late pullout is always a big blow to a promotional team, but this one especially hurts.  Not only is this probably the most anticipated heavyweight fight since Lennox Lewis retired, but over 60,000 tickets had been sold for the event.  Hopefully the injury isn't so bad that the fight can't be rescheduled quickly.

Despite earlier reports from Manny Steward (Wladimir Klitschko's trainer) that a fight between the IBF/WBO heavyweight titlist and former cruiserweight champion David Haye was nearly completed, all signs currently point to serious trouble in getting the fight done, which has been proposed for June 20 in London, not at the originally rumored O2 Arena, but at Stamford Bridge, a 40,000-seat soccer stadium.

Dan Rafael of ESPN.com reports that the London idea appears to be totally out, and spoke to Klitschko manager Bernd Boente, who was blunt about Haye's star power and his trainer/manager, Adam Booth:

"We are absolutely willing to do the fight, but we have to start all over again to bring them down from their high horse. Adam is very inexperienced. He may be a good coach, but he's definitely not a good manager. If he's not taking this chance, do you know how long it will be before Haye is in a mandatory position? It will take a long time. This is a unique chance for Haye and they are being so greedy. If Haye had a name like Lennox Lewis or Evander Holyfield in their best days, we would have additional money from international sales. But that is not the case."

...

"It does not make sense to fight him if he doesn't bring more to the table than a regular challenger like Hasim Rahman or Tony Thompson," Boente said. "Why pay him more than a mandatory challenger? And he was complaining about options. Let him go fight Ruslan Chagaev or Nikolai Valuev and see how many options their promoters ask for."

Telegraph is reporting that Haye is very open to fighting Wladimir in Germany, where the Klitschkos are based:

Adam Booth, Haye's trainer and agent, explained: "The original deal to co-promote the event [in London] would never work because of unacceptable terms. However, we're willing to sacrifice a little on our side just to get this fight made. David will fight Wladimir anywhere they choose, and give them the two rematch options they have requested. They would make exactly the same money in Germany as they would in England because we have dropped our figure to go to Germany."

Ron Lewis of the Times-Online points out the obvious when it comes to this situation:

The bottom line is that Haye needs the Klitschkos more than they need him... and they know it. A family virtual monopoly of the titles goes a long way in this business. Boente's interview could merely be a negotiating tactic, but it now seems more likely that Wladimir will be facing Chris Arreola in Los Angeles in May. After that he has Alexander Povetkin to take care of. Vitali, providing he beats Juan Carlos Gomez next month, could be available in September.

So the real question is, assuming Wladimir goes ahead with an HBO fight against Chris Arreola in Los Angeles in May instead of fighting Haye in June (and this is what I expect now), what does Haye do?

Vitali has his hands full with Juan Carlos Gomez, who is an underdog but no pushover on March 21. Plus, you always have to consider Vitali's health. Any fight could be his last; any training camp could make the fight previous his last. Crossing fingers until September on Vitali Klitschko is risky.

Wladimir would fight Arreola, and should he win, he would then fight Povetkin, his other mandatory. And he should do that, too. Both Arreola and Povetkin have done more as heavies than Haye has. Obviously I'd love to see Wladimir fight Haye, but if that can't get done, then he should take care of his mandatories. Povetkin had to pull out of a scheduled December bout with Wladimir, and we wound up with Hasim Rahman.

David Haye would have to fight again, and have to find someone credible. It won't be acceptable for him to fight another Monte Barrett, which is not really a shot at Monte, but he's aging and was never a world-class fighter to begin with. Barrett was a fine choice for a step up to heavy to get people talking. But now he has to fight someone bigger than that to make a possible fight with either Klitschko brother bigger than it would be now.

The sad reality is that Haye, if he's being a smart businessman, can't go too big, either, because no one's quite sure about his heavyweight whiskers. Barrett wobbled him a couple times. And going bigger than Barrett pretty much means taking a genuine risk on someone. Tony Thompson could use a fight, but I don't think Haye is going to want to fight a 6'5" southpaw who has no name value. Former titlist Sultan Ibragimov is better than he looked against Klitschko, but that fight ruined him because of his dreadful performance.

Another former titlist, Sergei Liakhovich, recently said he was itching to get his career back on track. Liakhovich also has no name value and has been horrid in his last couple of notable fights. No one wants to fight John Ruiz because he makes everything closer than it should be. Oleg Maskaev might be able to bang a little more than Haye wants to risk. Faded Americans like Rahman, Toney and (oh, let's mention him) Holyfield just won't do. Titlists Ruslan Chagaev and Nikolai Valuev are probably not thinking about Haye, period, because he's explosive and their names have never come up in association with Haye. He wants the Klitschkos, and he's made that clear.

Two guys it won't be: Samuel Peter and Eddie Chambers, who are officially on like Diddy Kong for the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles on March 27, live on Friday Night Fights. That's kind of too bad because either of them make for a decent opponent.

We'll see what happens, but right now I'd say it's best to temper your expectations. It seems like Klitschko-Arreola is the easier fight to make, it eliminates a mandatory, and you can always let Klitschko (either one) versus Haye simmer a while longer. David just has to keep winning, because chances are the Klitschkos will.