Stuart Franklin - Bongarts/Getty Images
David Haye wants to come out his retirement to face Vitali Klitschko, but it looks as if Team Klitschko is looking elsewhere. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Bongarts/Getty Images)
David Haye has made apparent his desire to come out of retirement for a shot at Vitali Klitschko, but it seems as though the England-born heavyweight has priced himself out of that opportunity. According to Rick Reeno of Boxing Scene, Klitschko's manager Bernd Boente and his fighter have moved on from trying to negotiate with Haye, and will look forward to other opponents after Vitali (43-2, 40 KO) defends his WBC Heavyweight crown this Saturday against Dereck Chisora in Munich, Germany.
"We made an offer two weeks ago and he turned it down. We are not even negotiating anymore. He wants a huge guarantee and there is too much risk. We don't know how the British pay-pre-view will do because Haye is not a superstar anymore because of his performance with Wladimir. As of now the fight is off. Knock on wood that Vitali beats Chisora on Saturday night, we will start negotiating with some opponents but it won't be David Haye."
-Bernd Boente, to BoxingScene.com
It's interesting to hear that Haye (25-2, 23 KO) is no longer a "superstar" in England, as I suppose he was pre-Wladimir fight, when he was dominated over 12 rounds last July. I live in New Jersey, so I have no idea what the public sentiment on Haye is in the UK, and how it changed based on the loss and post-fight excuses against Wladimir. (I know we have some readers from across the pond, so if anyone who has a better idea on this could give an opinion, that would be great.) Either way, I don't think there's a huge clamoring for Haye to come back to fight Vitali throughout the global boxing public. I also don't think that has that much to do with him being unlikeable because of his broken toe excuse in the post-fight interview.
Mainly, the underwhelming sentiment for a Vitali-Haye fight comes from the fact that it would likely be a mirror-image of Wladimir-Haye, and who really wants to sit through that again? (Other than the 65,000 people who would fill a German soccer stadium to see one of the Klitschko's fight a horse.) Unless you really buy that Haye's broken right toe had a huge impact in the one-sided Wladimir win, and most don't, a significantly different performance from Haye would be unlikely at best. Also, things seem to hopefully be turning a bit - a very slight bit - in the heavyweight division these days, and there are some decent potential opponents for Vitali and Wladimir to face before picking from each other's scrap heaps.
One of the names at the top of that list is Robert Helenius. We'll see how competitive Chisora (15-2, 10 KO) is on Saturday against Vitali, as many thought Chisora soundly defeated Helenius on Dec. 3 despite getting the bad end of a rotten split decision. Helenius' name certainly took a hit after what most believed to be a legitimate loss. If Chisora is uncompetitive on Saturday, Helenius' chances at getting a fight with Vitali could sour. Also, Chris Arreola has kept busy and has won his last six fights against marginal competition since losing to Tomasz Adamek in April of 2010. While Arreola isn't turning many heads, you know he'll come to fight regardless of who he's in with. The winner of the Feb. 25 match between Alexander Povetkin and Marco Huck will also be on the fast track towards a crack at one of the brothers. American heavyweight prospect Seth Mitchell is making strides, and we'll get a better idea of where he is after his April 28 fight on the undercard of the Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson fight in Atlantic City.
Despite there being a good amount of names for Vitali or Wladimir to choose from, none of them exactly excites anyone, as the brothers would be rightly and widely favored over everyone I just mentioned. Point being, Vitali Klitschko certainly doesn't need David Haye, nor would Haye pose anymore of a challenge than most of the rest of the "top" of the heavyweight division. Heck, Tony Thompson probably has as good a chance against Vitali than Haye, Helenius or Arreola. Haye is simply in no position to be making steep financial demands, and it seems as though Team Klitschko has moved on. That's probably the best for all involved.
0 recs | 17 comments
Haye isn't a superstar here, and never has been.
The only fighter who could recently have been rated a domestic superstar was Hatton. Not Calzaghe, not Khan and not Haye, all of whom are/were popular but have never really crossed over beyond sport fans in general.
But boxing fans here do seem pissed off with Haye from the Fraudley debacle combined with the way he shit the bed against Wlad.
Haye has been something of a fraud at HW, with the only impressive performance coming against Ruiz, who wasn’t all that.
Also, I doubt Povetkin goes after a Klitschko.He’s had plenty of opprtunities in the past and has gone elsewhere every time.
I'm going slightly mad - February 13, 2012
Thanks. I guess what I was most interested for was wondering how the toe excuse was viewed in the UK, and how that changed the perception of him, if at all. And the Audley Harrison fight was a total joke that I pretty much forgot about. Thanks (not) for the reminder!
Chris Celletti - February 13, 2012
I mean, nobody has gone all Dan Rafael on him, but the toe excuse was pretty much written off as a poor excuse and that he was beaten by a better man. I think that Wlad has more respect from British fans than ever before now, which says it all about Haye’s current standing and his performance in his last fight. Haye can’t really ask for a massive guarantee. He is a retired fighter who lost his last fight convincingly.
Eoin_not_ian - February 13, 2012
"Klitshcko moving on from D Haye"
and really who could blame him?
Talk about an ongoing annoyance.
Thank God, and hopefully we’ve heard the last of the shameful Haye.
I notice some morons are rating his book highly on Amazon.
Who are these people??
Probably his entourage.
Matt Mosley - February 13, 2012
I'm English, BTW
and i’m disgusted by Haye.
Matt Mosley - February 13, 2012
I was never really a “fan” but definitely started to dislike him around the time of the Audrey Harrison “fight”.
The “gang rape” comment i found particlularly disgusting and the fact that he rarely backed up his words and came across as a big fraud (after all the talk about how what he would do to the Klits) just made me dislike him all the more.
GOOD RIDDANCE! :)
Matt Mosley - February 13, 2012
Out of interest, are you an Ali fan?
Olbas - February 13, 2012
At least Ali backed up his talk
And I do like Haye
Sweet science - February 13, 2012
No Credibility.
David Haye lost any credibility that he had in the fight against Wladimir. He embarrassed himself and wasted a lot of people’s money in the process. I purchased all of his heavyweight PPV fights and the Ruiz one was the only one that was worth the money because Haye showed off the class that he possessed. Since moving up to heavyweight, he chased the Klitschko’s in order to get a massive pay-day before his 31st birthday so him and Adam Booth could have a party and never have to work again. You could have taken any man off the street and they would have put up a more exciting and ballsy performance than what Haye produced on the night. If he was to return, like Lennox Lewis said, he needs to build his way up the rankings again. He wouldn’t even be the best heavyweight in Britain if he came back straight away so that would be his first hurdle, then probably fighting someone like Seth Mitchell and then possibly Povetkin/Huck to get a title going into the fight. Then and only then would he have the credibility for the British public to buy another one of his PPV fights.
Also, on a different note, does anybody know what is happening with Mike Perez who won Prizefighter last year? He looked like a good prospect.
JT64 - February 13, 2012
+1
I still can’t believe he got a 50/50 split on that
fightpayday vs. Wlad. What an embarassmentrpm0003 - February 13, 2012
This horse?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvJ90_eZErw
Did the horse beat Holyfield, then? I mean, there is no way anyone would give a title shot to someone who lost in their last….. oh. Ok. They did? Oh. Right……..
Olbas - February 13, 2012
It's not like he would lose
match or credibility fighting Haye. He is too sound of a heavyweight. Haye isn’t washed up and can get a tune up before they meet up. Offer Haye a flat fee w/ no shares and see if he is all talk.
honorablecbm - February 13, 2012 via iPhone app
I think its pretty much proven at this point that Haye is all talk.
I'm going slightly mad - February 13, 2012
I Need Guidance, Please
Was Haye-Klitschko the most boring . . . exhibition of all time, or does that go to David Tua vs Lennox Lewis? I paid money to see the latter and it’s still keeping me awake at night.
ShrinkRap - February 13, 2012
Valuev vs Haye was just as bad as either, but Klitschko-Haye had three years of gabbing and big talk to help make it worse as an overall package.
Scott Christ - February 13, 2012
Thank you, Scott
That’s the clarity I was looking for. I somehow missed Valuev-Haye. Maybe it’s on YouTube. Think it’ll help my insomnia?
ShrinkRap - February 13, 2012
Valuev-Haye and the “David vs, Goliath” hype will sum up Haye’s entire heavyweight career, and why people paid attention to him at all in that weight class.
BTW, I think Valuev won.
DrRck - February 13, 2012
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