David Haye Hands Back Luxembourg License; Wants BBBoC To Back Vitali Fight

by Johnny Walker

British heavyweight contender and former world champion David Haye has turned in the license granted to him by the Luxembourg Boxing Federation for his successful grudge fight against Dereck Chisora this past July in London.

Haye had been retired until he and Chisora scuffled early in the year at a press conference in Munch, leading to the London showdown. The British Boxing Board of Control refused to sanction that fight, leading both combatants to seek licenses from outside the country.

After much media fretting and moaning about the ethics of the Luxembourg boxing organization sanctioning the fight, promoter Frank Warren’s card went off without a hitch, as Haye knocked out his foe in round five.

“‘I’d like to thank the Luxembourg Boxing Federation for licensing me ahead of my July bout with Dereck Chisora in London, but I no longer require that license,’” Haye says.

A fight between Haye and WBC champion Vitali Klitschko, however, is the second biggest bout that can be made in boxing after Mayweather vs Pacquiao, and the man known as the “Hayemaker” has been making moves to ensure that nothing will prevent that fight from happening.

“‘I’m a British boxer, I have never had any issues with the board and, should a fight with Vitali Klitschko happen, I’d be keen to have the British Boxing Board of Control in my corner, simply because they are so experienced and are the best at what they do,’” Haye explains.

WBC president Jose Sulaiman, who had backed the BBBoC’s stance re Haye versus Chisora, recently met with Haye and reversed his earlier claim that the Briton was morally unfit to meet his champion.

Now, by seeking the backing of the BBBoC, Haye is clearing the last hurdle for the fight he says he wants “desperately.” Vitali Klitschko, who recently defeated obscure contender Manuel Charr in Moscow, is heading his UDAR (“Punch”) political party in upcoming fall elections in Ukraine, and has said he will decide on his boxing future when the results are in.

However, it seems highly unlikely that the uneventful bout with Charr is the way Klitschko envisioned ending his career, and there are rumors of a bout with Haye in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev next spring.