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Home » WBA title shot for Haye following Klitschko v Povetkin

WBA title shot for Haye following Klitschko v Povetkin

In a scenario mimicking when the soon-to-be 33 year-old fought the Ukrainian himself as world title holder in 2011, the winner of Klitschko v Povetkin, which has four belts on the line, will then free up the WBA ‘regular’ version for the mandatory contender. 

On that occasion, Haye lost his ‘regular’ belt to Klitschko, who was in-turn elevated to WBA ‘super’ champion, a movement which left the World Boxing Associaition’s then number one and two to fight it out for the vacant strap.

Two months on from the Haye v Klitschko fallout, Povetkin and Ruslan Chagaev were pitted together for the Briton’s old title, with the former picking up the belt he takes into this weekend’s Moscow battle in the same situation. 

Whoever carries home the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts tomorrow from the Olympic Stadium is irrelevant to Haye, but that then leaves current WBA number one and next in the pecking order Luiz Ortiz as the main players for the vacant title.

With Haye booked in to battle Tyson Fury in a rearranged bout on February 8, it is doubtful that the WBA would agree to allow the two Briton’s to have the strap on the line due to the latter’s current ranking of 15. That should then leave Cuban Ortiz to fight number three Denis Boytsov to crown a new champion unless the WBA allow special dispensation to the Haye v Fury PPV offering to have the belt on the line.

The last thing Haye v Fury needs right now is another possible obstacle to the already rescheduled clash, but it will be interesting to see what the ‘Hayemaker’ decides when the WBA offer him his shot later this month.