By Johnny Walker
If there was ever any doubt that world heavyweight champions Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko absolutely loathe David Haye, that doubt was erased today when, before their upcoming title defenses, both fighters took the time to excoriate the ex-WBA heavyweight kingpin from the UK.
Answering questions in his final press conference before facing Haye’s British counterpart Dereck “Del Boy” Chisora this Saturday, Vitali Klitschko chided Haye for making huge financial demands for a proposed fight between them, and for seemingly not caring about the chance to make amends for his loss to Wladimir last year, a loss in which Haye infamously blamed a swollen little toe for his anemic performance.
“David Haye can be strong again,” Vitali said. “He can be the world champion again. He can fight me, the oldest and weakest of the Klitschko brothers. Haye has a chance to get back into the game. I don’t understand why money is his only motivation.
“I wanted to fight him last time but I flipped a coin with Wladimir and he won. I was happy when Wladimir beat Haye because it brought all the heavyweight title belts into our family but I was also a bit upset because, after all the bad words he used against us, I wanted to beat him up. He has no excuses not to fight me now.”
However, Vitali’s words were mild compared to what younger brother Wladimir Klitschko, in training for a title defense against Jean Marc Mormeck of France on March 3, had in store for Haye.
“David Haye must be the most depressed rich man in the UK,” Wladimir told sportsvibe.co.uk.
“He will be aware that people are laughing at him as he passes by on the streets. In 12 rounds against me he didn’t show any courage and didn’t fight like a man. He showed what kind of a person he is. Now his ego is hammered but he acts like a princess thinking that people are interested in him.
“Right now he’s in a hole of his own creation, he deserves to be there and he’s digging himself deeper and deeper into it. He’ll be forever remembered for his last performance. The only way this can be erased is if he turns up and tries to fight Vitali.
“If I was him, knowing the situation he’s in right now, I’d fight Vitali whatever the Klitschko’s were offering, I’d just grab the chance to gain respect back from the fans and the sport,” Wladimir taunted.
“We’re not asking him to fight for free. We’re giving him a chance to earn some good money but, more importantly, to become world champion again. If he failed to beat Vitali he still has the chance to redeem himself.
“I’d hoped he’d become a better person after what happened to him in Hamburg last summer. It doesn’t look that way, does it?”
The Klitschkos thus seem to be making once last stab at embarrassing Haye into a fight with Vitali, who still badly wants to dole out severe punishment to the Brit for his “bad words” about the Klitschko family.
While the Klitschkos’ manager, Bernd Boente, had recently seemingly shut the door on that fight due to Haye’s financial demands, he today left a small opening of “4 to 5 weeks” for the Briton to get his demands in line before Vitali moves on to find another opponent.