By Mark Vester

Former undisputed cruiserweight champ David Haye has gone on the record with his version of what took place during the infamous physical altercation with WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, which took place in a packed restaurant last weekend in Germany. The incident took place prior to the two fighters reaching a verbal agreement to fight in June.

It all began when Haye decided to flaunt a photo that was shot for the UK version of Men’s Health Magazine, with Haye dressed in a suit and holding the decapitated head of Vitali’s younger brother, Wladimir. Vitali lost his temper when he saw the photo, and according to Haye’s manager Adam Booth - grabbed the British fighter by the throat and a near brawl broke out with both men wrestling around.

“[It was] a photo shoot I did for Men's Health. A Reservoir Dogs thing I did in a suit, holding Wlaidmir Klitschko's head, his decapitated head, with blood ripping everywhere. Just a sign of what's coming in 2009,” Haye told BBC Sport.

“Vitali hadn't seen it because it was in the UK version of it so I made sure to let him see it. He lost the plot. He's got no sense of humor at all. He tried to rough me up a little bit in there, but I wasn’t having it. It turned into a little bit of a scuffle. It's all about getting the fight in 2009. It got broken up. He was cursing me out in Ukrainian. I could see there was no love loss whatsoever.”

Based on the altercation, Haye believes that he's got Vitali’s number and can beat the much bigger fighter when they step in the ring. He says the Ukrainian fighter tries to emulate the movie character Ivan Drago from the Rocky series. Haye vows to play the part of Rocky when he faces Klitschko.

“It gave me a little flavor of what it's like. He tried to rough me up, manhandle me, show me how strong he is. I sort of wrestled with him and did some grappling as well. No punches were exchanged, but it was a bit of a rough and tumble. I've got a little feel for him and I've got his number - I can feel it,” Haye said.

“He's watched Rocky 4 way too many times. He thinks he’s Ivan Drago. He stands there stiff as a board and it's not going to be Apollo Creed vs. Drago, it's going to be Rocky vs. Ivan Drago.”

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