“I think I will box again. My brother showed David Haye a very good fight, with a very good result. Let’s see. Why not? But at the moment, I don’t want to talk about major plans. I have an official contender to fight, everything depends on the World Boxing Council,” are the words quoted by Vitali on the BBC’s Sportsweek program on Sunday, although the last line of that statement is the key.
The odds that the fight would be for the world title the Ukrainian currently possesses are not good as the WBC have stipulated that Klitschko has to defend his title against mandatory challenger Bermane Stiverne. In the event that Klitschko wanted to pursue a fight with Haye and not honour the WBC’s wishes, any ensuing contest between the two would almost certainly have to be non-title.
The World Boxing Council, if backed into a corner, would be forced to strip Klitschko of the green belt, allowing Stiverne to be handed his rightful shot against the next in line in the rankings. Stiverne has won not one, but two eliminators with the WBC in recent times and told WBN last month that he would not fight anyone until Klitschko recovers from a recent injury and is able to defend against him.
Haye still has to come through the undefeated Tyson Fury on September 28 before any talks could begin in earnest, with Klitschko ruled out until 2014 anyway and rumoured to only have one fight left in him before he turns his attention to the Ukrainian Presidential elections.
Whether that single fight will take place against Haye or Stiverne remains in the hands of the WBC.
