The heavyweight showdown between Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye appeared on track for a June 20 showdown, but economic issues seem to have derailed the matchup.

The fight was originally planned for June 20 at Stamford Bridge, a soccer stadium in London. Then the rumors out of Europe last week were that the fight would be at the 02 Arena. Unfortunately, no one in the media bothered to check the occupancy, as the 02 is booked for that night and the fight will absolutely not be held at that venue on that night.

Financially and logistically, the fight is still pretty far from being signed.

Klitschko had agreed to fight Haye mainly because of the revenue it could bring in being in a soccer stadium on Haye’s home turf. Now that the venue is in question, Haye doesn’t offer very many reasons why the fight should take place. He’s far from the most deserving contender, and satisfies no mandatory defenses.

Bernd Boente, who manages the Klitschko brothers, told ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael,

“They backed out of the stadium because of the economy and now we have to negotiate everything new. That [stadium] was a huge portion of the deal. Otherwise, Haye is not bringing much to the table.”

While it is clear that Haye makes the most noise with his mouth in the heavyweight division, he has done nothing to earn a shot at the title yet. While many of us would love to see this fight, I would not fault Klitschko for passing on it now and fighting someone more deserving in the meantime. He has a mandatory fight with Alexander Povetkin and may in fact have a “Plan B” fight in place with Chris Arreola if the Haye fight doesn’t go through. Either one of those options is acceptable for Wladimir.

Part of the problem with the Haye fight seems to be the inexperience of Haye’s manager, Adam Booth. Now that the fight is in trouble, Haye’s people are trying to negotiate a deal in which the Klitschko’s promotional company would assume all of the risk (offered enticingly as “taking control of the promotion”), but be rewarded with what they see as just an ordinary opponent.

Haye got himself to the front of the line based on his potential to sell. The idea of fighting in a giant venue and getting a piece of the pay-per-view pie was enough for Wladimir to choose Haye over other, more worthy opponents. Now the stadium deals look to be non-existent, and Haye wants to keep the English television money. This leave Klitschko in a spot where he would be fighting a generic challenger that fills no mandatories, has an average live gate, and Haye would be keeping a solid portion of the TV money. That’s just bad business for Klitschko to take that deal.

Now in order to make the fight happen, Haye has offered to fight in Germany. At this point, Haye clearly would be bringing no more money to the table than anyone else, as Wladimir consistently fights in front of a full house in Germany. But Haye is desperate to make the fight happen and is willing to go anywhere to get his shot at a Klitschko. Haye has also conceded to the Klitschko camp’s demands of rematch clauses that allegedly could have Haye fighting his next three fights in Germany against various Klitschko brothers.

Haye’s manager denies the things that the Klitschko camp has been saying, saying that Haye only wants the UK TV money, and not another penny. This is a bit hard to believe, and if it is true, then Haye’s manager must truly be as inexperienced as has been said. Why on Earth would Haye fight Klitschko for no money, and only get paid on the television back-end?

As Booth described it to Setanta, via BoxingScene.com:

“He’s talking utter nonsense. When you go through the numbers they make about two million (dollars) more than if they were to take the Arreola fight, on the numbers they’ve declared to me.

“When they fight Thompson or Rahman they get a nominal figure from HBO. They get their German money, the ticket sales and everything else. From that money they have to pay Rahman. They take in the same amount of money from HBO, German television and ticket sales for fighting David but on this occasion they don’t have to pay David anything.

“All David’s taking is the value he brings to the table which is the UK TV money. That’s it, because the Klitschkos don’t get any UK TV money. We’re talking a nominal figure, tens of thousands of pounds. You’re talking 50,000 euros or less, that’s all they’re worth in the UK. That’s fine. We’re not taking their value, David’s just keeping his own. I don’t see how anyone could see how that would be unreasonable.”

Clearly, the fight is nowhere near done, as had been reported in weeks past. The fight’s inability to take place at a major venue in London is likely going to be a deal breaker for Klitschko. Without the possibility of fighting in front of a large audience, Haye lacks the ability to distinguish himself from any other generic opponent.

What Haye does have, is the potential to be a huge fight at some point. If Haye’s camp can’t make this fight huge right now, it could be in the interest of both parties to take other opponents now and try this matchup again when the economy allows for it to be a mega-fight.

It’s just a personal opinion, but I have a hunch that this fight gets completely scrapped, and we’ll see new opponents in place for both men by the end of the month. I hope I’m wrong, since this is the fight I want to see, but that’s my gut feeling.

In the meantime, Vitali Klitschko fights this weekend against Juan Carlos Gomez, and a Vitali win puts his name right in the mix for a fight with Haye as well. That will give Haye two fighters to negotiate with, perhaps allowing for a fight to be made more easily.