Klitschko makes new Haye offer

David Haye
12 April 2012

WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko has offered to split the difference with David Haye in a renewed bid to make their much-anticipated world heavyweight title unification match a reality.

Klitschko has thrown down a challenge to Haye in the wake of the Englishman's facile WBA title defence against Audley Harrison, insisting he will accept a "50-50" purse split and would be happy to fight in England. Previous attempts to line up a clash between Haye and Klitschko or his younger brother Wladimir have been scuppered by arguments over prospective venues and TV revenues.

Klitschko told BBC Radio Five Live: "I'm ready any minute to sign a 50-50 contract. We are both world champions so let's fight. Let's make the fight in the spring time - I'm ready, the question is for David Haye."

He added: "David Haye is a great talker but the question is, is he a good fighter? If he is a good fighter he should sign the contract. I want to fight David Haye because my brother already has two world titles and I have just the one."

Klitschko would clearly love a fight with Haye to take place in Germany but he is adamant he will go where the money and public interest is biggest - and that could mean a showdown across the Atlantic.

Klitschko added: "I hear about the great venue of Madison Square Garden for this fight. But I'm ready to fight in Germany, the United States or Great Britain. Where the most money is on the table, let's fight in this place."

Haye was left out in the cold after failing to agree terms with either Klitschko brother earlier this year. Instead, the brothers signed to meet lightly-regarded Briton Dereck Chisora, with Wladimir taking on the Londoner in December.

It had long been assumed Haye would first meet IBF and WBO champion Wladimir, but now Vitali, who is yet to confirm his next opponent after October's easy win over Shannon Briggs, insists he wants to jump the queue.

Klitschko continued: "I want to fight David Haye because after he has fought Wladimir I will not have an opponent any more. Wladimir will kill him. He knocks everyone out badly. That is why I want to fight David Haye."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT