Same old, same old, they'll say. Yet it may happen. When Haye outpointed the 7ft 2in 'Beast from the East' to win the WBA heavyweight title last November, there was a rematch clause in the contract, and it is understood that Valuev is holding out for that fight.
Yet Haye still talks up the Klitschkos, insisting that Vitali Klitschko will not contemplate retirement until he has faced off against the south Londoner inside the ring. The Ukrainian veteran and his brother Wladimir are being lined up as future opponents for Haye - if he can beat Ruiz at Manchester's MEN Arena on Saturday night in a contest which is live on Sky Box Office.
Vitali has won four times since returning from a near four-year layoff caused by repeated injury problems. At 38, Haye believes he won't hang up his gloves until the pair have met. Haye wants the contest at Wembley, although there will be a tussle over it going to Germany. “After what happened the last time, you think we would let them organise it in a stadium over there?“ Berndt Bonte told me.
The feeling in the Klitschko camp is that they have no problem filling 50,000 seater stadiums in Germany, and command a huge television audience. That goes a long way in setting up the costings for a superfight. Haye may have to go, unwillingly, to Germany
. Or he may not go at all. Haye also believes that money isn't the only reason that any showdown with the WBC king should happen in England. Haye played down the feel in German stadiums. "The atmosphere at German arenas is not that great. I know people who went to see Wladimir fight Ruslan Chagaev in Germany and they said you could hear a pin drop."
Elswehere, Carl Froch has backed Haye to walk through Ruiz on Saturday night. The undefeated WBC super-middleweight champion expects the Hayemaker to retain his WBA world heavyweight title.
Froch, currently preparing to take on Mikkel Kessler at the end of April, expects Haye to have little trouble and is even expecting him to become the first man in 55 fights to stop Ruiz inside the distance.
"He's a great fighter, very fast, very skilful, very tough - but people have got question marks about his chin; he's been put down a couple of times as an amateur and a professional," he said.
"Will he beat Ruiz? Of course he will. I think he will walk through Ruiz and then hopefully he'll get a shot at a Klitschko - and I'll give you a prediction on the Klitschko fight when it gets made."
"He's too fast, too skilful and if he needs to, David can stand there - he's proven now he can hold a shot," he said.
"He's very fit, I think he's put in the extra work he needed to put in to make him a tougher, more durable fighter. He's developed as a professional, he's big and strong at heavyweight.”
"He's not big, big but he's by no means the smallest heavyweight champion of the world we've ever had."
Source: telegraph.co.uk
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