Filed under: Other Sports, Boxing
Finally, after months of on and off negotiations, poor insult after poor insult, lies, demands and just some plain stupid excuses, we have a fight that the boxing world has been waiting for - Britain's David Haye will face Wladimir Klitschko this summer.Ever since the cocksure Haye stepped up from the cruiserweight division which he dominated to take on the might of the heavyweight world, a fight between the Londoner and one of the Klitschko brothers - Vitali or Wladimir - has been mooted.
Haye and Wladimir had even agreed to a showdown in 2009, but the former was forced to pull out due to injury, sparking coward accusations from the Klitschko camp which heaped more intensity on the rivalry.
Haye quickly refuted such comments and went on to win the WBA crown by defeating Russian giant Nikolai Valuev in Germany and giving himself a foothold in the division.
A routine defence win over American John Ruiz urged the public to cry out for a meeting with a Klitschko once again, but Haye instead opted to face fellow Londoner Audley Harrison in a farcical contest that lasted just three rounds.
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Frustrated fans lauded the WBA champion with abuse on internet message forums and Haye's only redemption could come by agreeing to face a Klitschko, if not both siblings.
But with the 30-year-old Haye planning an early retirement in October, the chances of it happening seemed dead in the water when Wladimir rescheduled his meeting with Britain's Dereck Chisora for April 30.
However, as rumours built last week of an agreement between both camps, Klitschko pulled out of his bout with Chisora, citing a recurrence of the abdominal injury that caused the first fight to be cancelled, and it was apparent a deal had been done with the Haye camp.
And now the British fighter can't wait to get into the ring with Klitschko in a fight that will take place on June 25 or July 2 in Germany.
"I always believed we'd one day fight and I'm glad we've cut through the nonsense and put together the most important fight in the heavyweight division," claimed the confident Haye.
"This is the match the boxing world has been calling for since I first decided to step into the heavyweight division, and I feel it is my destiny to fight and beat Wladimir Klitschko. We are the best two heavyweights in the world and it would have been a travesty for us to have never fought.
"This is an inevitable fight with an inevitable conclusion. Wladimir Klitschko is getting violently knocked out."
The announcement of the fight will be a massive relief for boxing fans around the world, as it looked like yet another big fight seemed to be slipping away.
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