Champion Haye eyes dream showdown with Klitschko
NEW WBA world heavyweight champion David Haye has his sights set on a “mega showdown” with WBC king Vitali Klitschko next year.
The 29-year-old won a majority decision over 7ft 2in Russian giant Nikolai Valuev in Nuremberg on Saturday night to become only Britain’s first heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis retired in 2003.
Haye now faces a mandatory defence against former WBA champion John Ruiz in the new year, but admits the Ukrainian is his number one target.
Klitschko, 38, claimed yesterday he is “ready to give Haye a fight and to knock him out”, but first he must beat American Kevin Johnson on 12 December.
Haye responded: “Let’s get it on. I look forward to a mega showdown.”
He explained: “I have to defend against Ruiz because that was part of the deal for me to fight Valuev. Ruiz took money to step aside on the understanding that he would fight the winner. So I have to fight him as he is the mandatory challenger and they would strip the title off me if I didn’t.”
Haye has already seen one fight with Klitschko fall through, while also having to pull out of June bout with Klitschko’s younger brother Wladmir, the IBF and WBO champion, due to a back injury.
Now, however Vitali is determined to ensure that nothing gets in the way of a unified clash this time around, possibly for next summer.
“It is very difficult to say what will happen in the future because Haye is so unpredictable, but I am ready at any time to fight him,” Klitschko said.
“I am the holder of the WBC belt, the belt that Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield and George Foreman held.
“The WBC belt is the best in the world and I am ready to fight anyone in the world and prove that I am the strongest.”