By Lem Satterfield
WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (25-1, 23 knockouts) of England will face either 34-year-old WBO, IBF and IBO counter part, Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KOs), or his 39-year-old brother, Vitali Klitschko (41-2, 38 KOs), in Germany on either June or July 2, in accordance with an agreement reported by BoxingScene.com last week.
In doing so, the 30-year-old Haye and the siblings have ended nearly two years of off-again-on-again negotiations.
Haye has been a thorn in the side of the Ukrainian siblings, starting in June of 2009 when he angered he showed up at a press conference in Germany wearing a T-shirt depicting a cartoon of himself standing in a ring while holding their decapitated heads with their lifeless bodies at his feet.
The Klitschko brothers also have a deal in place that will allow one of them to face 34-year-old Polish-born former light heavyweight and cruiserweight titlist Tomasz Adamek (43-1, 28 KOs) in September in a European soccer stadium that borders Germany, that is, if the siblings continue to win.
Vitali Klitschko is coming off of October's unanimous decision victory over former titlist Shannon Briggs (51-6-1, 45 KOs), and is slated for a March 19 bout opposite 30-year-old Cuban-born Odlanier Solis (17-0, 12 KOs), a former 2004 Olympic gold medalist who is coming off of last month's 10th-round disqualification victory over Ray Austin (28-5-4, 18 KOs).
Adamek, of Jersey City, N.J., will face former Mike Tyson conqueror Kevin McBride (35-8-1, 29 KOs) on April 23, this after having scored December's fifth-round stoppage of New York's 36-year-old Vinny Maddalone (33-7, 24 KOs).
Haye prefers a bout against Wladimir Klitschko, but will face Vitali if not the younger brother. Similarly, either sibling has the option of facing Adamek.
In November of 2009, a 218-pound Haye scored a 12-round, majority decision that dethroned, Russia's 7-foot, 316-pound Nikolay Valuev (50-2, 34 KOs) as WBA king.
Haye spoke to BoxingScene.com during this second Q&A.
BoxingScene.com: Do you feel that in the arena of trash talking, that you are the one guy who has gotten under the skin of the Klitschkos the most, and, Wladimir Klitschko, in particular?
David Haye: Definitely. You know, I've never seen a situation where Wladimir has gotten into the ring with someone who has genuinely gotten under their skin. They pretend like everyone else does, but this time, I know that Wladimir Klitschko genuinely despises me. So, he actually despises me going into this fight.
This is a situation where he's going into the ring with someone who is getting the same money that he's getting. He's used to having his take in all of the money and giving back absolutely nothing.
BoxingScene.com: What do you mean?
David Haye: I've seen the contracts that he dishes out to these other challengers. The people who sign these contracts are actually very desparate people who just want a pay day. It's a shame that they've done business the way that they've done, but I guess that's a credit to them. They're good businessmen.
BoxingScene.com: What is so unfair about their contracts?
David Haye: I can't get into too many specifics of the contract, because that's all confidential. But it's no secret that they have opted in all of their fights not only one rematch, and not two rematches, but then a third.
A third rematch on top of that. That rematch might not be against one of them two. It might be someone else, randomly, if they wanted to.
But when you're challenging for the heavyweight championship of the world, you know, you believe that when you win that fight, you should be earning good money. You should be able to defend it against other people and be able to earn good money because you're the man. But they want to hold you down.
The deal that I made with Sauerland, when I fought Nikolay Valuev, that was a very fair deal. You know, since I've fought him, I've been fighting with options, but the deal is very, very fair. I'm earning very good money and I've still got full control of my career. That's how it should be done, the way that Sauerland promotions has done things.
They realize that I've beaten Valuev, and now, it's just down to me just fighting and generating the most money. That wouldn't be how it was done by the Klitschkos. They wanted to put me in the fights that they see fit on their promotion and that's not fair. That's not fair for a boxer.
BoxingScene.com: So why were you able to strike the particular deal that you have with the Klitschkos this time?
David Haye: Well, I'm glad that I didn't have to go through one of those contracts. With this fight, there is no rematch clause, and this is a one fight deal. Although the fight is going to be on their terrirory where they want it to be in Germany, they feel comfortable fighting in Germany.
So I have had to concede on a few things. But as long as there is a referee who can count to 10, and a boxing ring, and Wladimir Klitschko is in the other corner, I'm a happy man. Because I know that I'm not only going to beat him, but I'm going to destroy him.
BoxingScene.com: What other concessions do you feel that you have made?
David Haye: Wladimir wants to enter the ring second, and I don't care about that. If that's what makes him feel much better and that's what makes him feel more confident. He can do that. He needs his specific doctor in there. So I'm like, you know, 'Okay.' Also, he can pick the gloves, whatever gloves that he wants.
But, you know, he needs his home comforts. You know, he's a very delicate flower, Wladimir Klitschko. So, listen, you know, he gets what he wants and he gets knocked out. Because when it comes to things getting tough and things getting rough, and he goes back to the corner, and he sits down, Emanuel Steward will be trying to tell him to pull his finger out of his a*s.
Because he needs a knockout? Well, at thaat point, all of these little terms are not going to help him. They're not going to knock me out. He's going to be the one who has to knock me out.
BoxingScene.com: But isn't that the nature of the business?
David Haye: Well, they have obviously made a lot of money doing what they're doing. But their reign at the top is soon going to come to an end. And Wladimir can con some of the people some of the time, but he can't con all of the people all of the time. But this time, he's going to get into the ring with somebody who can punch.
But not only someone who can punch back and avoid his silly jab, but also someone who can take that jab away from him. If he doesn't think that I can take that jab away from him, then he's got another thing coming. I know that he relies on his jab and he relies on being able to grab his opponents.
But watch when he tries to grab me the first time. He's going to be in for a rude awakening.
BoxingScene.com: You say that the Klitschkos despise you, but do you have any genuine animostity for them?
David Haye: No, I don't like them. I've seen what they've done and I've heard the media ploy that they've tried to work with the media against me. And they've sort of gotten some of the media and a few journalists who have tried to work with them and who are peddling their bullsh*t.
Guys who are sort of fanning the flames and the stench of the Klitschkos and their lies and their deceipt that they're perpetrating on people. But, that will come to an end. There are writers out there who love them some Klitschkos. Any boxing person who loves the Klitschkos doesn't really love boxing.
BoxingScene.com: What do you mean by that?
David Haye: Because they don't produce the goods. They don't go out there and give you the value for their money and they don't fight anybody who can punch back. You've got to these two, big Ukrainian guys who get over on these fat Americans, and these over the hill Americans. They beat them up for a few rounds and that's it.
But that's what their legacy is built on. The one time Vitali got in there with somebody who could fight back was Lennox Lewis, and he needed, what, 600 stitches? That didn't come because he has a great defense. I mean, his whole eyeball would have fallen out if he had carried on fighting that way against Lennox.
Between the two of them, that's the only legitimate guy that those two have fought. That's the only guy who means anything on their record. You know, Wladimir's done well up until this point, but his credibility has suffered. He's said that I've ducked him. But now, none of that means anything.
Because he's signed for the fight and I've signed for the fight. Now, it's about just getting it on. It's about finally getting into the ring and straightening it out once and for all. That's the thing. As soon as Wladimir signed his name on the line, he signed his doom. Because he made the biggest mistake of his life.