Is the world ready for Klitschko v Haye?

If you believe some, the biggest fight in British - if not world - boxing is Wladimir Klitschko versus David Haye. Certainly the fight would be intriguing, but is it even the biggest heavyweight fight out there? Or would Haye just end up like Tony Thompson (above) laid out on the canvas. And it isn't going to happen for at least a year, anyway.

The main driving force behind this dose of Hayefever is Setanta, the satellite television station that has promised Haye an armful of millions on the promise that he delivers the world heavyweight title from Klitschko's grasp. But considering Haye, who is in the process of giving up the WBC, WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles, does not begin his heavyweight campaign in earnest until November, all this talk seems somewhat premature. I'm all for a British boxer getting a big push, but let's be realistic.

Setanta showed Klitschko's defence of his WBO, IBF and IBO titles against Thompson from Hamburg on Saturday, but while John Rawling and Richie Woodhall did a fine job on the commentary, the undercurrent for the whole production seemed to be a PR stunt for Haye. I half expected Haye to leap in the ring at the end of the fight and grab the microphone and issue a challenge WWE style.

The channel have kept the push up this week, flying some journalists to Haye's home in Northern Cyprus to interview the man. I have no idea what he is going to say, beyond what he said in his post-fight character-assassination of Klitschko. I would be amazed if he announces a date or an opponent for his heavyweight bow, although Oleg Maskaev, the former WBC champion, has allegedly been sounded out. With the promise that he will be facing a "top ten ranked contender" the price of all opponents to come to London to face Haye will be going through the roof.

Of course all this talk thrives on boxing ignorance. It relies on the logic being that the heavyweights are all rubbish, so we need Haye to save the division. Haye may be the next big thing - I certainly hope he is - but he is completely unproven as a heavyweight and his one-round blowout of a tubby Pole named Tomasz Bonin (who had an oddly high WBC ranking) at Wembley Arena last year did not really prove anything.

If Haye is to be taken seriously as a heavyweight contender, he needs to beat some name heavyweights, and in the meantime there are plenty of other interesting heavyweight matches around, even though the Klitschko-Ibragimov unification in February was a washout.

I think Klitschko's defence against Alexander Povetkin, the 2004 Olympic super-heavyweight champion from Russia (Klitschko won in 1996), is a really intriguing match. Povetkin is fast for a heavyweight and, even though he lacks Klitschko's height or punch power, their clash in November will be worth watching.

Nikolay Valuev could re-establish himself for a match with Klitschko if he regains the WBA title against John Ruiz - a match that is likely to be in August - the winner of the match between James Toney and Hasim Rahman is likely to get a push in the United States and then there is that other heavyweight clash pencilled in for October 4 or 11 in Berlin or Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.

That is when Sam Peter is due to defend his WBC title against Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir's big brother, who has not boxed since 2004. Now should Peter beat big brother, a rematch with little brother (who climbed off the floor three times to beat him in 2005) for three (or four, including the IBO) titles between the Nigerian and Wladimir suddenly becomes a huge fight, which would certainly make the importance of Klitschko v Haye pale away.

As Klitschko said to Haye "talk is cheap". And by the time Haye next steps into the ring, the heavyweight scene could already look very different. And it may be Haye that is forced to wait in line.

By the way, Setanta faces another rival for the boxing television viewer. Nuts TV (Sky channel 207 and freeview 42) will be screening Povetkin's heavyweight bout against Taurus Sykes live from Moscow on Saturday night. The big fight, which is being shown alongside some MMA (so don't get put off if you tune in), is due on at about 9pm with the show starting at 8pm.

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