Haye pulls out of Klitschko fight
Agence France-Presse | 06/04/2009 3:48 PM
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LONDON – Britain's David Haye has pulled out of his eagerly-anticipated world heavyweight title fight with Ukrainian giant Vladimir Klitschko.
WBO and IBF champion Klitschko had been due to fight Haye in Germany on June 20 but the Ukrainian was informed on Wednesday that his opponent would be unable to keep a date for which 55,000 tickets have been sold.
Klitschko was talking to reporters at his base in the Austrian Alps when he was informed that Haye had suffered an injury in training in northern Cyprus.
"I'm speechless," he said. "We will have to get someone else in. I will take who ever it is."
Klitschko's manager, Bernd Bonte, added: "They haven?t given any detail on the injury but say Haye can't train. We will get someone else but I can't say yet who it will be.
"Ninety five per cent of the fans who bought tickets did so because of Klitschko."
A possible alternative opponent for Klitschko could be WBA champion Nicolai Valuev, the seven-foot Russian whose fight against Ruslan Chagaev on Saturday was also cancelled.
Klitschko, 34, has been riled by his 27-year-old challenger's verbal sparring in the build-up to the fight with Haye dubbing the Ukrainian "Bitchko" and sporting a T-shirt featuring an image of himself holding the decapitated heads of Wladimir and his elder brother Vitali, the WBC champion.
Klitschko however declined the opportunity to question the authenticity of Haye's injury.
"If something like that happened to me he would talk dirty which I'm not going to do.
"I will definitely proceed with June 20. I've been waiting for Haye for half of the year now so I have to fight.
"But I will not throw garbage at the person who is down on the floor which is David Haye right now. I won't kick a man when he is down, even if he would to me."
Haye had been hoping to become Britain's first heavyweight world champion since Lennox Lewis retired in 2003.
The interest in his meeting with Klitschko means it is highly likely the fight will be rearranged for a later date.
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