After winning the WBA world heavyweight championship from Nikolai Valuev on a majority decision last night, David Haye has set his sights on the next challenge in his flourishing career.
Haye confounded his critics to fulfil a childhood dream of becoming champion, winning the fight on two judges’ scorecards, with the other judge scoring it even. The 29-year-old faces a mandatory defence against John Ruiz, which could take place in March, but is already looking beyond that fight to a unification bout against Vitali Klitschko, the WBC champion.
Haye is expected to have made close to £1million from his fight with Valuev, having put his faith in the Sky pay-per-view revenue. If he beats John Ruiz, he will be looking for considerably more than that for a fight with Klitschko, who must first fight the American Kevin Johnson on December 12 in Berne.
Appearing on the BBC’s Sportsweek programme, both men appeared open to the possibility of a fight at some point in 2010.
“Let’s bring it on and make it happen,” Haye said. “I have got to get John Ruiz out of the way and then we can get a mega showdown next year,” Haye said.
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Klitschko claimed this morning he would fight Haye “at any time and knock him out”. “Full congratulations [to Haye]. It was a good performance, a good points win. It was very close,” Klitschko said. “It is a good fight for the future, maybe. I am ready to fight anyone in the world. I am ready to show to everyone I am the strongest in the world.”
After the fight Haye revealed that he had done so with a suspected broken hand. “I damaged my hand in I think it was the second round or third round,” Haye said, “so I couldn’t throw too many right hands. So I tried to win it extensively with my left hand. My hand’s very tender, very sore, so that’s why I only used it irregular.”
Adam Booth, Haye’s trainer, added that his fighter had damaged his left elbow in the first round. “I realised [I could win] from the moment I signed the contract,” Haye added. “I knew that I’m the best heavyweight in the world and today I found a strategy. I didn’t plan to do that, I trained to be more aggressive [in this fight], but I damaged my hand so I had to take my foot off the gas and win it clever – use my head and win rounds and it worked out. I’m pretty sure it’s broken but it’s a small price to pay for being the heavyweight champion of the world. His head is solid, the hardest thing I’ve ever hit. It’s like hitting a solid brick wall.”
Boxing promoter Frank Warren struck a note of caution, claiming that Haye’s quality as world champion can only be judged when he faces one of the Klitschko brothers.
“Nobody can tell me Valuev is a quality heavyweight. He is not even an average heavyweight,” Warren said. “People talk about Valuev like he is something special. He is probably one of the poorest heavyweights ever seen. Everybody gets carried away. Just because he is a giant of a man doesn’t mean he is a good fighter.
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“John Ruiz is a guy who was beaten by Roy Jones. It is when you start talking about the Klitschkos, they are totally different fights. They are guys who can box and throw punches. That is when you will see whether Haye can do it at that level. Beating Valuev is not the yardstick.”