Wladimir Klitschko says he will probably have to get in the ring with David Haye in order to shut him up.
Brit 'comparable to Herbie Hide', says champion
Wladimir Klitschko says he will probably have to get in the ring with David Haye in order to shut him up.
The IBO, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion, who defends his titles against Hasim Rahman this weekend, is already looking forward to next year and a possible high-profile meeting with Haye.
The confident, yet likeable, Brit has been calling out both Klitschko brothers since relinquishing his world cruiserweight titles, and stepped up the rhetoric following a stoppage victory over former heavyweight title contender Monte Barrett last month.
But Klitschko, who was famously confronted by Haye last year when he told the Briton to 'get in line', admits Haye is now on his radar...and he's gunning for him.
Empty words
"David Haye decided to make himself famous by promoting himself," said the 32-year-old. "He's loud but only actions in the ring can show whether it's empty words.
"David Haye is much shorter so he needs to talk a lot to get attention. He makes a lot of noise.
"It's too early to judge how he will do as a heavyweight but if he continues to behave like that I will probably consider meeting him in the ring to stop it.
"There is nothing wrong with him stepping into the heavyweight division, he's welcome. I told him to get in line. Now he's had his first fight he's stepped closer to me.
"I consider Haye to be like Herbie Hide. They both try to end fights with one punch. They're comparable. David's fast and so is Herbie.
"But there aren't many examples of fighters moving up to heavyweight and doing well - Evander Holyfield is an amazing exception."
Hide held the WBO title when he faced Klitschko's brother Vitali in 1999, being demolished inside two rounds, and is currently making a name for himself back in the cruiserweight division.
Respectability
But Wladimir believes he and his brother, who now holds the WBC version of the title, have helped to bring boxing back into the mainstream and given the heavyweights an air of respectability.
And with the likes of Haye amongst the ranks, Klitschko sees a brighter future for a division that used to get the boxing juices flowing across the land.
"Next year is going to be a very exciting time for the heavyweight division because suddenly there are names," he added.
"We have to make the crossover and you do that by getting more fighters with names involved.
"More people will pay attention to the division if we have more recognisable faces.
"Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson made the crossover - it was not just boxing fans who knew their names, everyone did.
"Evander Holyfield and George Foreman are other examples. Names allow us to crossover from the boxing community into the majority.
"We need characters in the heavyweights and now we have some.
"In the past two years I've been fighting guys who were good but too quiet and not good for the promotions.
"With Chris Arreola from the States, Haye from Britain and Nikolay Valuev from Russia we have some interest in the division once more."
