The Daily Mail is reporting Wladimir (three belts) and Vitali (one belt) Klitschko have issued a joint statement saying they are ready to take on David Haye who holds the one world heavyweight belt not adorning a Klitschko. The brothers made their intentions very clear in a statement to Bild.de:
We promise that in 2011 the fight against Haye will come, we want this fight at all costs. He may choose which of us he wants to step into the ring against to lose his world title.
Haye’s manager, Adam Booth, wasted no time in saying Haye is every bit as ready as the Russians:
We are nowperfectly positioned to get together and make this fight with Wladimir Klitschko. Despite the fact we know we bring more UK television money to the table, David and I are happy to split the entire pot 50-50 and grant Wladimir the deal he has wanted since day one.
The move to a 50/50 cut on UK media dollars by Haye could cost him as much as two-million pounds($3 million dollars) so is a big concession and a clear sign Haye wants this fight to happen.
There’s no chance of boxing taking back the day-to-day fight spotlight that MMA owns but a compelling fight at the heavyweight level would definitely draw mainstream attention and could help slow the sports decline. It’s no Tyson-Holyfield but hopefully this fight actually gets done and soon.
