The never ending saga of Haye v. Klitschkos has take another turn. However, this time the turn is for the better. The IBF says that there’s still a possibility that Klitschko vs.Haye can happen. Initially, the IBF set a deadline of May 17th for Haye and Klitschko to make a deal.
If there was no deal by the deadline, then Klitschko would have to turn his sights onto the #1 IBF contender Alexander Povetkin. And they would have to negotiate the fight terms by June 17th or the fight would go to a purse bid.
However, IBF chairman Lindsey Tucker made gave a new hope to the Klitschko v. Haye fight in his comments to Sportbox.ru:
“If Klitschko and submit his request, there is no guarantee that he will receive approval. Wladimir could still reach a deal with Haye and it is possible the unification will get priority over the mandatory defense. [Klitschko-Povetkin is not a sure thing] but the possibility of it happening is very high.”
Within the last week, Haye’s manager Adam Booth has come out and said that negotiations could take months and that Wladimir should go fight Povetkin while details are hammered out. Booth also goes on to state that the IBF situation is not their problem:
“This is a problem for Wladimir, not David. We can spend months negotiating and while this is ongoing Klitschko can fight Povetkin. Haye understands that to conquer America, it can only come with a victory over the Klitschko brothers.” Booth, Bleak Sport
If Haye understands that he has to fight Klitschko at some point, then why doesn’t he publicly respond? Why doesn’t he get the deal done instead of saying Wladimir should go fight someone else first? Instead of progress in these negotiations we get more nonsense. This is starting to become a depressing theme with boxing’s biggest fights.
