By Rick Reeno
Bernd Boente, manager of heavyweight champions Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, is furious after reading BoxingScene.com's recent news brief regarding David Haye's refusal to fight either Klitschko in Germany. According to Haye, the fight must take place in London, England.
“I want the fight in London - I don’t want to go to Germany,” said Haye to the South London Press. “I went out to Germany to win my title and I want my defining fight to be on British soil. They’ve had enough fights in Germany. This is my last year in the sport and there is no doubt it is going to be my best year - I want to go and clear out the heavyweight division."
Boente tells BoxingScene.com that he, along with the Klitschkos brothers, believe the British champion is making additional demands in order to sabotage a potential deal. The Klitschkos are willing to fight Haye in any location where the most money can be generated. And if that location is England, then the fight will happen in England. But if the most money can be generated elsewhere, whether it's Germany or another country, then it doesn't make financial sense to make the fight in England.
"I spoke with Wladimir and Vitali and we believe that David Haye is just looking for another excuse. He is setting up so many pre-conditions that making the fight will be impossible. If you remember last year he asked for no options, so we gave him no options. Then he complained that he wanted 50-50, so we gave him 50-50. Then he comes back and says he wants all of the money from English television. And now he wants the fight in England," Boente said to BoxingScene.com.
"I told you before, that if we don't get 50% of the English television, a fight with Wladimir or Vitali will never happen. He doesn't tell us what to do. I want to be 100% clear, we will never agree to anything David Haye sets up or tells us to do. We said England is an option for the fight, but the fight will take place where we can make the most money. And it doesn't necessarily have to be Germany. It could be anywhere.
"If England is where we can make the most money, then we'll go there. But the fight will happen where we can make the most money. If Haye is going to tell us that it can only happen in England, then we will never agree to start negotiations. A negotiation is where everyone comes to the table with open minds and together they make a deal. But if he is going to start telling us what to do, the fight won't happen."
Boente, and the Klitschkos, have a feeling that Haye is buying time to eliminate his fight options with Sauerland Event. Sauerland obtained options on Haye from last year's title fight with Nikolai Valuev. They expect Haye to move forward with a lesser opponent, or make his mandatory defense against Ruslan Chagaev.
"Our feeling is that Haye is not going to do the fight [with either Klitschko] until his last option with Sauerland Event is finished. Sauerland has one option left. They get a piece of the income and I don't think he wants to give them any of the income from the biggest fight of his career. He will look for another easy opponent, like Audley Harrison, or maybe he'll fight [WBA mandatory] Ruslan Chagaev, but that is what our feeling is," Boente said. "Wladimir called me and said Haye's fight with Audley Harrison was the most thrilling three rounds of boxing that he's ever seen."
