Wladimir Klitschko plots next move after beatdown of David Haye

Wladimir Klitschko (top) has no plans to retire in the wake of Saturday's one-sided beatdown of David Haye (bottom).

Lee Smith/Action Images/ZUMAPRESS.com

Let's get one thing out of the way right now: Wladimir Klitschko has no plans to retire.

Yes, Klitschko, 35, is now the unified heavyweight champion, having added the WBA title to a collection of hardware that includes the IBF, WBO and Ring magazine belts after Saturday's lopsided decision win over David Haye. Yes, Klitschko and his brother, Vitali, the WBC titleholder now own every major piece of the heavyweight crown, an accomplishment the brothers have made a priority since Vitali came out of retirement in 2008. If there was any question who was the top dog in the division, there isn't anymore.

But retirement? That's just not an option.

"I'm ready to fight again right now," Klitschko told SI.com on Monday. "I'm reminded of the words of [trainer] Emmanuel [Steward]:. Keep fighting, keep going, as long as you have joy and satisfaction in doing it. I feel I am at the peak of my game. I'm still excited, even more than I used to be about this game of boxing."

And why shouldn't he be? Klitschko has now won 14 fights in a row, dropping just a handful of rounds in the process. Haye, a loudmouth Brit who had been lobbing verbal grenades at the brothers for more than three years, was supposed to be Wladimir's biggest challenge. But Klitschko made the outcome look easy, bouncing that long jab off Haye's nose, mixing in stinging right hands and forcing Haye to fight defensively all night.

"This was a lot like the Sultan Ibragimov fight," Klitschko said, referencing his 2008 unification bout. "If you remember the comments from Ibragimov and his trainer, they said they were going to destroy me. They said they were going to take me out in a couple of rounds. Then the fight came and they played it safe. This was a complete copy of that fight. Haye screamed about how fantastic his style was, how impressive he fights. But when he couldn't get any of those wild swings through, he gave up on the strategy. Honestly, my sparring sessions were tougher than that. It was an easy workout.

"I'll give him credit, he was super fit and super fast. He was the fastest guy I have ever fought. It was hard to catch him. It was like trying to catch a fish in water with my bare hands. Every move I made, he was right there. He never lost eye contact with me. But he didn't want to fight."

Klitschko says he was puzzled by Haye's blaming the loss on a toe injury he suffered weeks earlier. In the ring after the fight, Haye ripped off his boot and did television interviews barefoot so the camera could see his swollen little toe. In the locker room, Haye snapped a picture of his foot and posted it on Twitter. At the post-fight press conference, Haye stood on a table and flaunted his foot for reporters.

"That was stupid," Klitschko said. "I was warning him before he got up on that table. "I told him, 'David, I have much more experience that you do. Don't do this, don't into the wrong spot here.' But again, David Haye showed his true character."

Klitschko says he has put Haye behind him. He was noncommittal about the possibility of a rematch, insisting he doesn't believe Haye really wants one. Instead, Klitschko has set his sights on the crop of young, unbeaten contenders in the division.

"There are a lot of guys out there for me to fight," Klitschko said. "Alexander Povetkin, Dereck Chisora, Denis Boytsov, Tyson Fury. I don't need David Haye now. You know, he doesn't know how to fight at this level. He doesn't understand it. I believe he was ready to give me a good fight. But he bailed out before the fight. All the talk, I think, got himself under his own skin. He's the type of fighter who fights great in the gym, but psychologically he couldn't handle it when it got real. There was too much public pressure on him."

Klitschko desperately wants another fight in the U.S. -- he hasn't fought here since defeating Ibragimov at Madison Square Garden -- and says he has the "perfect" opponent to face in his return: American Chris Arreola. Arreola, 30, absorbed a brutal beating from Vitali last year but has looked much sharper lately after slashing weight and committing himself to the sport.

"Let's do it," Klitschko said. "I checked with Emmanuel, he thinks it's perfect too. Arreola has more experience, he has lost some weight. I hope we can do it in New York. I want to fight in front of that audience. When I fought Ibragimov and [Calvin] Brock, a lot of people came. I hope they would come out again."