By Rick Reeno
Two of most exciting fighters in the heavyweight division are looking for opponents. David Haye was scheduled to fight IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko on June 20 in Germany. He withdrew on Wednesday with a back injury. Klitschko will now fight undefeated Ruslan Chagaev. Unbeaten Chris Arreola would like to get a crack at WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. But Klitschko is currently involved in a legal mess with the WBC, who are trying to force him, against his own will, to defend his title against Oleg Maskaev.
During an earlier conversation with Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, we discussed some of the possible opponents for Haye‘s next fight. Surprisingly, Schaefer mentioned Arreola as an opponent he would love to match with Haye.
“I would love to make that fight. I think that’s the most exciting fight in the heavyweight division, maybe even more exciting than Haye and [Wladimir] Klitschko. David Haye and Chris Arreola always come to fight, and Golden Boy always wants to make the best fights. They are both exciting fighters. It would be a very exciting fight,” Schaefer said to BoxingScene.com.
BoxingScene also spoke with Arreola’s promoter, Dan Goossen, who liked the idea but at the same time there are other plans in motion for his fighter. Arreola’s main target is Vitali Klitschko. Next week, Klitschko is scheduled to arbitrate his dispute with the WBC. If Klitschko prevails, you can expect a defense against Arreola in the near future. If WBC prevails, you can expect some ongoing negotiations for a fight between Haye and Arreola. Boxing is a business and Haye, although untested at heavyweight, brings some decent coin to the table.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, there is always the slight possibility of the WBC prevailing and Klitschko still refuses to fight Maskaev. If that were to happen, they would strip him of the title. That leaves Chris Arreola and Oleg Maskaev as the two candidates to fight for the vacant strap. I don't see Goossen making a serious decision on Haye until the Klitschko/WBC/Maskaev mess is resolved.
“We will certainly throw his name in the hat. We have made our own direction and there are a few names we're looking at. At the top of the list is Vitali Klitschko. We will take a look at any viable opponent,” Goossen said.
