BOXING:BERND BONTE, the manager of Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, has accused David Haye of making another excuse after the WBA champion insisted he would not travel to Germany to fight the brothers.
Haye said this week: “I want the fight in London – I don’t want to go to Germany. I want my defining fight to be on British soil. This is my last year in the sport and there is no doubt it is going to be my best year – I want to go and clear out the heavyweight division.”
Wladimir holds the IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring titles, while Vitali is the WBC heavyweight champion. After Haye defended his WBA belt in a three-round virtual walkover against Audley Harrison in Manchester on Saturday, the 30-year-old is conscious he requires a credible opponent, especially as he is insisting that next year will be his last before retirement.
A fight against either Klitschko would provide this, but Bonte questioned whether Haye really wants to meet them. He said: “I spoke with Wladimir and Vitali and we believe that David Haye is just looking for another excuse. He is setting up so many preconditions that making the fight will be impossible.
“If you remember last year he asked for no options, so we gave him no options. Then he complained that he wanted 50-50, so we gave him 50-50. Then he comes back and says he wants all of the money from English television. And now he wants the fight in England.
“If we don’t get 50 per cent of the English television, a fight with Wladimir or Vitali will never happen. He doesn’t tell us what to do. I want to be 100 per cent clear, we will never agree to anything David Haye sets up or tells us to do.”
Meanwhile, World Boxing Council (WBC) president Jose Sulaiman has urged referees to make better use of a rule introduced this month to end lop-sided bouts early if one of the fighters has suffered a severe pounding.
Citing the example of Manny Pacquiao’s crushing victory over Mexican Antonio Margarito in Dallas on Saturday, Sulaiman said safety had to be a priority, especially when a battered fighter refused to quit.
Margarito fought all 12 scheduled rounds against Pacquiao at Cowboys Stadium before ending the WBC super welterweight title bout with a broken right eye socket that required surgery.
“The WBC . . . gives authority to referees to stop fights whenever they believe there’s been too much punching from one side and there’s no opportunity for the other boxer to win,” Sulaiman said. “When they see that a fighter has been punished very much, they should stop the fight.”
Guardian Service
