By Mark Vester

When Vitali Klitschko and David Haye step in the ring for the tentative fight in June, one of them will see their career come to a near end. A few months ago, Haye vowed to retire if he couldn't beat the best heavyweights. He gave his reasoning as "what's the point" if he wasn't able to come out on top with the elite big men. It doesn't get any bigger than Vitali, the current WBC heavyweight champion. Haye's mouth and big talk has backed him into a corner where he needs to looks like a million dollars in the fight.

Vitali returned in October after a near four-year absence from ring, stopping Samuel Peter after nine one-sided rounds to capture the WBC title. The heavyweight division lacks the necessary big names for Vitali to continue his campaign for too long. The WBC has already lined up mandatory Juan Carlos Gomez and want the winner to face Oleg Maskaev.

In the end Vitali will likely give up the title to make the fight with Haye, which could be avoided if something is worked out with the sanctioning body. A loss to Haye, a cruiserweight moving up in weight with a suspect chin, would spell the end for Vitali's run - unless a rematch is worth doing.

A Haye win would open the door for a fight with Wladimir, who already has a fight in the works with Chris Arreola and a mandatory defense owed to Alexander Povetkin. A Vitali win would leave the big man in a position of "what's next." There are no big names beyond Haye, at the moment.The stock of Nikolai Valuev has crashed after the controversial decision win over 46-year-old Evander Holyfield. If Arreola or Povetkin can overcome Wladimir, that can open the door for another challenger to Vitali.

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