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David Haye vs. Wladimir Klitschko Off, Klitschko Still Wants to Box Someone

Jun 3, 2009 – 6:29 PM
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Michael David Smith

Michael David Smith %BloggerTitle%


The June 20 heavyweight title fight between Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye has been canceled, with Haye saying he won't be able to box because of an injury. Klitschko, however, says he still intends to show up and fight someone on June 20 at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, where around 50,000 tickets have already been sold.

Klitschko told The Guardian:
"He was ­challenging me and now he's backing out. I definitely will proceed on 20 June. I have to. That's my wish.

"I've been waiting for this David Haye for half of the year so now I have no opponent so we will look for somebody else. There is a saying, 'Dogs are barking but the caravan keeps going.' "

I haven't heard that saying before, but apparently it means Klitschko wants to fight whether Haye will be there or not. One possibility is that Klitschko could face WBA heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev, whose recently scheduled fight with Ruslan Chagaev left him without an opponent as well. If Klitschko were to beat Valuev, he would own the heavyweight titles in two of boxing's four major sanctioning bodies, and his brother, Vitali Klitschko, would own the other two.
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