Haye Could Possibly Land Joshua-Klitschko Winner, Says IBF

By Edward Chaykovsky

David Haye (28-2, 26 KOs) could potentially find himself in line for the Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko winner.

Joshua and Klitschko will collide on April 29th at Wembley, for the IBF, WBA, IBO heavyweight titles. The winner will have two mandatories at their feet.

The WBA and IBF have both ordered the Joshua-Klitschko winner to make a mandatory defense. Under the IBF, the mandatory challenger if Kubrat Pulev, while Luis Ortiz is the mandatory under the WBA.

If Pulev declines or is unable to fight the Joshua-Klitschko winner - then the next highest ranked contender, which is Haye, would become the new mandatory.

IBF Championships chairman Lindsey E Tucker told Sky Sports: "Joshua asked to fight Eric Molina, we approved that fight with the condition that the winner had to fight Pulev. They came back with this unification, which takes priority over the mandatory, so we have to wait. Whoever wins between Klitschko and Joshua, we're expecting them to fight Pulev next."

"[If Pulev declines, then] whoever is sitting at No 3, they would get the first choice, or refusal, and we would continue down the list. Klitschko is No 3 and Haye is No 4. Theoretically yes, it would go to Pulev and Haye, assuming Haye was available and wasn't contracted to fight somebody else."

There is also the possibility that the Joshua-Klitschko winner will vacate the IBF belt, and go forward with the WBA mandatory defense against Ortiz. That would create a scenario where Pulev and Haye would fight for the vacant IBF title.

Haye is scheduled to face WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew, who is moving up in weight, on March 4th at the O2 Arena in London.

Besides the possibility of the IBF title, Haye is also the mandatory challenger - at the moment - to the WBO world title, which was captured last month by Joseph Parker of New Zealand.