By Terence Dooley
Adam Booth, manager and trainer of David Haye, told Sky Sports that his charge would be ready and available for a fight in September, ideally against either of the Klitschko brothers.
Haye was set to take on Wladimir in Germany last Saturday, but had to withdraw due to a niggling back injury. Wlad took on, and defeated, Ruslan Chagaev in place of Haye, and angrily dismissed Haye at the post-fight presser, both as a fighter and as a person.
The general feeling is that Haye will now be pushed into the cold, with Wlad looking to give Alexander Povetkin his long-delayed shot at the titles. Brother Vitali, another Haye target, also has other options.
Haye’s pre-fight conduct, which saw him wear a t-shirt depicting the beheading of both Klitschko brothers, has riled both Wlad and Vitali, they could leave Haye sweating on any future bout.
Wlad has marked out Nikolay Valuev (who holds one of the millions of WBA titles), Chris Arreola and Haye as future targets, but seems likely to give Russia’s Povetkin first dibs on a fight, as Alexander has been quietly pushing his claims over the past few years.
Haye has been inactive since November of last year, when he defeated Monte Barrett at the O2 in London, even if he does take a fight in September his recent schedule has been staccato, and the fighter will have lost a lot of ground in the heavyweight division.
Booth told Sky Sports that they are looking to get Haye fit, and fighting, before the turn of the year. “We are looking at the options and I have a few opponents in my mind. Where he fights next depends upon who he fights,” he explained.
"September 12 has been spoken about against Vitali. But we are not going to sit around and wait for them. I'm looking at other options and we always have done. If the Vitali fight comes up, we will do that. Right now we are getting David fit to box again for September or October.”
Booth confirmed that the Klitschkos have been notified of Haye’s availability for a September fight. “We have sent medical documents to the Klitschkos saying David is fit to box from the end of July, so they are not waiting on anything from us,” he claimed.
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