Klitschko slams 'unprofessional' Haye

Eurosport - Sun, 21 Jun 14:30:00 2009

After retaining his IBF and WBO titles by stopping challenger Ruslan Chagaev on Saturday, world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko labelled Britain's David Haye 'unprofessional'.

BOXING Klitschko Haye face off ahead of world title heavyweight fight in Germany - 0

Chagaev suffered the first defeat of his career when he was unable to come out for the tenth round after suffering a cut eye and the referee called off the fight to give Klitschko his 53rd win to retain his titles.

But Klitschko had been scheduled to fight British former cruiserweight Haye -- who had taunted the champion by calling him 'Bitchko' -- at the Veltins Arena until a back injury forced Haye out and Chagaev stepped in.

"I am very upset about David Haye, he has a big, bad and dirty mouth, I can not rely on this man, he is immature as a fighter and immature as a person," fumed Klitschko.

"I missed a fight in April to accommodate him, he couldn't deliver Chelsea (Stamford Bridge), so we moved the fight here.

"There is no blame on him physically, a fighter's health is important and boxers get injured.

"But he kept telling journalists then he needed two more weeks to recover, then he needed three, four weeks, I just kept hearing he needed more and more time.

"I have never worked with such unprofessional people, there was no official medical statement from his team.

"If he wants to fight me now, no problem, get in frigging line, I think he will end up on the floor."

With elder brother Vitali holding the WBC heavyweight title, the Klitschkos hold three belts and only WBA champion Nikolai Valuev stands in the way of them dominating the weight division totally.

"Nikolai Valuev was the first boxer we asked when Haye pulled out and he was also the first fighter who said 'no'," said Klitschko.

"Ruslan Chagaev didn't take too long to accept the fight and respect to him for that.

"I will come back to box here and I also want to box at Madison Square Gardens again."

On the night, Chagaev, the WBA heavyweight 'champion in recess' was no match for the might of Klitschko who lived up to his 'Dr Steelhammer' nickname to put the challenger on the canvas as early as the second round.

And Klitschko says his best is yet to come.

"That wasn't my best fight, that is yet to come both for me and my brother," said the Ukrainian.

"I was ready for (Russia's 2004 Olympic gold medallist) Alexander Povetkin, but he pulled out with his injury last year, but I would like to give him a chance again.

"I believe the Klitschko brothers have almost all the belts and I am just enjoying the process, I am not thinking of my legacy, I just want to find the best fighter in the world and beat him."

This was Klitschko's 53rd win to retain both his world titles against hepatitis B sufferer Chagaev, who was forced to call off last month's WBA title decider against Valuev in Finland because of medical concerns.

Chagaev was knocked down in the second round when Klitschko caught him with a straight right which stunned the Uzbeki who sat back on the canvas.

At the end of the ninth round the crowd at the Veltins Arena, home of Bundesliga football side Schalke 04, were on their feet as Klitschko landed several blows to the face and Chagaev was in deep trouble at the end of the ninth.

Klitschko now has an impressive 47 knock-outs from 53 wins fights.

The last of his three defeats as far back as 2004 against Lamon Brewster in Las Vegas when he lost the WBO title he later regained against Sultan Ibragimov in Madison Square Garden, New York, last year.

AFP

Comment 19 - 38 of 58

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  1. what has football got to do with boxing???? and i did­ see the fight just like i saw ever other fight lewis­ had.

    From donkey, on Tue 23 Jun 3:55PM

  2. a lot of @#$% ali took plenty punishment and still won­ frazier took plenty and still won there have been­ plenty winners and plenty champions that have been beat­ up and even cut that still won. lewis was lucky he must­ have thanked his lucky stars that night and thats why­ he @#$% it and retired because he knew vitali had the­ beating of him. as for name calling mate ur just a sad­ little person . vitali came back after 4 years out and­ is winning where is the great lennox????? as far away­ as he can be .

    From donkey, on Tue 23 Jun 3:53PM

  3. Donkey. No that is not correct at all. It is boxing,­ just because you are winning on points if you are doing­ so at the expense of taking a lot of damage you are not­ going to win and this fight was a prime example of­ that. Yes Klitschko was landing more shots but Lewis­ landed the more damaging shots which in turn meant he­ won the fight. And it was not 1 cut that got Lewis a­ "lucky" win as you say, Klitschkp had over 80­ stitches to various cuts, you have obviously not seen­ the fight or you would know what I am talking­ about.
    Neilsenti you are mug

    From Luke W, on Tue 23 Jun 1:11PM

  4. Kyrono, good to see someone else that actually looks at­ the bigger picture like I have. They are not amateur­ boxers, they are professional heavyweights, it you get­ stopeed because you have had your face re-arranged it­ makes no difference if you were winning on points.
    No­ one says Froch didn't deserve to win when he­ stopped taylor even though he was definately down on­ points because he stopped Taylor and so he won, it­ makes the points element of the fight a non-issue.
    It­ is like saying that 1 football team has 20 shots on­ goal but scores no goals and the other team has 5 shots­ on goal and scores 5, the winner is the one that has­ inflicted most damage.

    From Luke W, on Tue 23 Jun 1:08PM

  5. donkey, u talk sense.

    From neilsenti55, on Tue 23 Jun 1:00PM

  6. HHAHAHHA Donky ............The geezer is right yes he­ was winning on points and he is one of the best­ technical boxers there is.But and a Big BUT you cant­ win a boxing match if you have been cut to F*&CK­ because you aint protecting yourself DONKEY U PRATT ­ Lewis went lucky he was getting out boxed but not­ enough to loose and if it did go on Lewis would of­ opend his face up U MUPPET !!!!!

    From kyronosborne89, on Tue 23 Jun 12:58PM

  7. Comment 31 excuse me for being a bit thick but I was­ under the impression the person winning on points was­ actually winning the fight is that not the point of­ it??? So how on god’s green earth can the person­ WINNING the fight be getting either his arse kicked or­ battered???? Lewis was lucky if it wasn’t for the cut­ he would probably have been knocked out. and the same­ will happen to this loud mouth muppet

    From The Donkey, on Tue 23 Jun 11:21AM

  8. I can't disagree with what Klitschko had to say­ about Haye. As a person, i think Klitschko is an­ intelligent, stand up guy. Haye is just like Ali in the­ way he promotes fights (OTT). In reality, with­ Haye's paymaster Setanta going down the toilet it­ has turned out to be a blessing in diguise for the­ fight not going ahead. Haye should to concentrate­ neogiationing a deal with Sky Sports or ESPN.

    From Tai P, on Tue 23 Jun 10:22AM

  9. Why do people still go on about the fact that Vitali­ was up on points. So what if he was, the fight was­ stopped because Lewis battered him! Vitali had over 80­ stitches to his face and head after that fight, would­ you rather be down on points but causing that much­ damage to your opponent or up and points and taking­ that much damage.
    That is the problem with the­ Klitchkos, they fight a points game but they fight in­ the heavyweight division which is genrally about­ KO's, I know they both have good KO ratings but­ people need to put the Lewis-Vitali issue to bed now,­ yes he was winning on points but in doing so he got his­ Arse kicked, simple!

    From Luke W, on Tue 23 Jun 9:59AM

  10. Neil... are you DJ Talent?

    From tlarocca09, on Tue 23 Jun 9:15AM

  11. xentertainer point taken but Valuev was offered the­ fight first as the brothers wanted to unify the belts­ but he wanted none of it.Macaranelli can't take­ solid punches off cruiserweights what would he do with­ blokes 3 stones heavier hitting him? don't get me­ wrong,I like him,but moving up would be­ suicide,he'd get starched off any of the top 10

    From jack torrance, on Tue 23 Jun 8:51AM

  12. Haye would've smashed Chagaev inside 6 rounds.­ However, I think the Klitschko's are just too big,­ and could probably just jab their way to a win over­ Haye.
    At least the recent addition of Haye on to the­ heavyweight scene has spiced up an otherwise­ p!sh-boring division.
    In the Lewis-Vitali fight,­ although Klitsch' had the better of the first five­ or so rounds, Lennox was starting to land some massive­ shots just before the fight was stopped. Was brewing up­ to be a real war...

    From gemma u, on Tue 23 Jun 1:30AM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Why did I get so many thumbs down for stating Klitschko­ should have fought Valuev as they both didn't have­ fights? And what's wrong with Maccarinelli fighting­ in the Heavyweight division? I was surprised I had­ thumbs downs and no comments. Haye never baited­ Maccarinelli, he just looked into the camaras and said­ 'I'll win'. He never tormented Mormeck. He­ just said he struggled to make the weight but that he­ would win. So why is he trash talking now? Hayemaker,­ you don't need to do it. And if you do really want­ Wladimir, get Stamford Bridge for the bout and pen it­ in late August. THEN he'll fight you next.

    From The Xentertainer, on Tue 23 Jun 12:18AM

  14. haye is cool, goes for people he proabbly shouldnt,­

    wlad doesnt get his dues as one (pair) of the best­ boxers in the post lewis era. check the guys record,­ hes cleaned out the divison and has very high KO%. As­ good as anyones.

    and i think at that stage lewis­ wouldnt have been able to pull the win out vs the two­ bros

    From matt, on Mon 22 Jun 10:47PM

  15. sean d, lewis never wanted that fight he'd had­ enough of boxing by that stage never wanted that fight­ or had the desire or the heart to carry on, the lewis­ of old would have won that fight hands down..

    From johnherbert80, on Mon 22 Jun 8:59PM

  16. thats because lewis knows he was losing big!!

    From sean d, on Mon 22 Jun 8:31PM

  17. for once i have to agree with you klitschko fans out­ there, i believe Haye said he would fight klitschko­ anytime anywhere and for nothing obviously not after­ all..don't get me wrong i still think Haye is a­ great boxer but he should put his money where his mouth­ is or shut up. there's nothing wrong with a fighter­ trying to wind up his oppenent so every time Hay makes­ a comment Klitschko takes the bait, lets be honest here­ Vitali has done his fair share in trying to get lewis­ out of retirement and is still doing it..

    From johnherbert80, on Mon 22 Jun 5:13PM

  18. haye will hurt his back again when he gets koed by­ klitscho!!

    From sean d, on Mon 22 Jun 5:12PM

  19. LANCE. DO you remember when I first came on to this­ message board site. And, I said to you, next Hatton­ will fight Khan, 9th rnd body shot. And you laughed me­ off, you qustioned by knowledge on the boxing­ underworld, AND i am about to prove my quote right. The­ promoters are going over it and it is ready to be­ finalises, should Khan , however, be victorius in his,­ muchly desirable, first class bout with the very much­ over-rated champ and ukranion icon Kotelnik.

    once­ AGAIN LANCE I TOLD YOU SO. I NO THE RESULT OF EVERY­ FIGHT CUS IM IN THE UNDERWORLD AND THEIR CORRUPT MATE.­ INABIT BIG BOY.

    From neilsenti55, on Mon 22 Jun 12:31PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Hmmmmm.......Slamming­ HAYE....hmmm...intrestinng...very,very­ intresting....hmmmmm....hmmmmm.....i think haye would­ edge it....hmmmmm....BNP BNP BNP BNP BNP!

    From neilsenti55, on Mon 22 Jun 12:01PM
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