Despite it being the first time in years that Wladimir Klitschko entered a fight without being a huge favorite, David Haye proved to be little challenge for the heavyweight champion. After close early rounds, Klitschko figured out his timing and established a distance that allowed for him to work off the jab and straight right hand that makes up so much of his offense. Other than being briefly rocked by a Haye right hand in the final round, there was little of the fight that Klitschko did not control after the fifth round.
Wladimir Klitschko Next Fight - What’s Next For The Heavyweight King Following David Haye Win?
So the clear win over his most challenging opponent in years begs the question...what is next for Wladimir Klitschko?
A quick run through the Bad Left Hook heavyweight rankings shows that there simply aren’t many top heavyweights available who are the least bit interesting to watch fight Wladimir. He already holds wins over Haye, Eddie Chambers, Tony Thompson and Ruslan Chagaev. He is not going to fight his brother, Vitali, and #4 ranked Tomasz Adamek is busy fighting Vitali this September.
That leaves men like Aleksandr Povetkin and Denis Boytsov as potential challengers. A bout between Wladimir and Povetkin was scheduled back in 2008 before an injury forced Aleksandr out of the fight. Still, those aren’t fights that are likely to breathe new life into the heavyweight division. They’ll do big business locally but in the United States, they might as well not happen for the lack of attention they’ll get.
And that’s the problem with heavyweight boxing right now. There just aren’t enough talented fighters and the ones that are talented aren’t going to bring any attention to the division in the U.S.
Sadly, for Wladimir Klitschko, one of the best heavyweights of the past twenty years, he will be back to fighting bouts that get very little attention after one of the biggest wins of his career.
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