Boxing:Wladimir Klitschko should feel ashamed of himself for opting to fight Dereck Chisora rather than set up a unification bout with David Haye, according to the latter's manager and trainer Adam Booth.
Haye, the WBA champion, has been engaged in protracted negotiations with the Ukrainian, who holds the IBF and WBO titles and is regarded as the world’s best heavyweight as holder of the respected ‘Ring’ belt.
However, it was announced today that Klitschko will instead honour his agreement to fight Haye’s fellow Londoner Chisora, on April 30th, after a stomach injury forced the champion to pull out of their proposed clash last month.
An unimpressed Booth said: “There were lots of people that know Wladimir really didn’t want this fight yet. It’s a shame. It’s embarrassing for boxing that the unification fight isn’t going to happen now because David’s bent over backwards. We’ve conceded to every single ridiculous demand they made.
“From the start they said 50-50. David said fine, even though potentially we’re putting in the pot three or four times more than they’re putting into the pot because of pay-per-view Sky box office. David still said ‘let’s get the fight done 50-50’.
“They said the fight had to be on their German broadcaster even though our German broadcaster was prepared to pay more. We said fine. They said ‘we’re not coming to England for the fight’. David said ‘fine, I’ll go to Germany’. They said Wladimir has to be in the red corner, Wladimir has to come in second, Wladimir’s name has to be first on the poster and all these other ridiculous, egotistical things, and David said ‘fine, have it, just get him in the ring with me’.
“The last thing was, here is the date we now have, we said yes, Sky have approved that date and they turn round and say ‘we’re now doing Chisora’. Wladimir should feel ashamed of himself.”
Booth cannot fathom why Klitschko would not agree to fight Haye — other than not being convinced he would triumph.
He added: “When Wladimir first spoke of fighting David, when David was still a cruiserweight, I think he was confident but now as a heavyweight I genuinely don’t think he’s as confident.
“If he was, why would he want to go out and fight Chisora? If he’s confident of beating David, and he’s got it all his own way, and we’ve agreed to all of his terms, if he’s confident of beating David, why is he fighting Dereck Chisora for a fraction of the money that he would make to fight David? It makes no sense to me.”
British and Commonwealth champion Chisora — who has an unbeaten 14-fight record - was always hopeful he would still get his shot at Wladimir and it was confirmed today they will meet in the spring, with Germany still hosting the bout.
“This news is a fantastic late Christmas present,” Chisora said. “I always believed that I would fight Klitschko, and my faith has been repaid. I was a bit worried that he might try to fight an easier touch, but I think I’ve earned my opportunity.
“I was gutted when Wladimir pulled out of our fight just a couple of days beforehand. “But now I’ve got another chance to take his titles away. He’s a great world champion, but his time at the top is well and truly up.
“My promoter Frank Warren has done a great job in getting me this opportunity because there was no guarantee Wladimir would fight me again after he got injured.”