Boxing:David Haye has confirmed he will fight Wladimir Klitschko later this summer for the WBA, IBF and WBO world heavyweight championships. The fight is expected to take place on June 25th or July 2nd.
Both men have been calling on each other to make the fight happen for some months, and Kiltschko's withdrawal on Saturday from a scheduled April 30th defence against Dereck Chisora appeared to bring an agreement a step closer.
Haye told the BBC that the fight was secured late on Saturdaynight, confirming: "I finally had that contract in front of me and I couldn't wait to put pen to paper."
"It'll be either June 25th or July 2nd, either date is fine by me," Haye continued. "It's the fight every boxing fan has to see, and every sports fan. He is ranked by many as the best heavyweight in the world - in front of myself, even though I'm the WBA champion."
The fight looks set to take place in Germany, where Ukrainian Klitschko has a huge following.
On the negotiation process, Haye said: "He wanted all these little things - he's a bit precious, is Wladimir, so I gave him all these little things to make him feel like he'd got a mental edge.
"The terms were right, it's a fair deal - it's a 50-50 split, that's what they wanted and that's what I wanted. I'll just make sure the referee can count to 10, then I'm the new unified heavyweight champion of the world.
"Here it is - end of June, beginning of July - let's get ready to rumble."
A protracted recovery from a stomach muscle injury was given as the reason for Klitschko cancelling the Chisora fight yesterday.
But he dropped an intriguing hint when he said: "I am very sorry about cancelling the fight - especially for all fans in the already sold-out SAP arena in Mannheim.
"However, I am optimistic that soon we'll have an event in Mannheim."
Haye, meanwhile, claims he has already embarked on his preparations for the bout.
"I've been training, I've been out in Miami and done two months of hardcore conditioning, ready for the hardcore boxing training," he said. "I'm firing on all cylinders, I can't wait to get Wladimir in that ring - it's the fight I've wanted for so long."