Speculation has intensified this week of an imminent return to the ring by former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye. Various newspapers and respected websites have suggested that Haye and his manager Adam Booth have agreed a deal to face reigning WBC heavyweight king Vitali Klitschko in a big money heavyweight showdown in Germany in the spring of next year.

Haye (25-2, 23 KOs) retired on his 31st birthday last month, maintaining a promise that he had made to the press and public a year in advance. His decision to retire came on the back of his disappointing, title losing effort against Wladimir Klitschko in a unification bout in Germany in July.

Prior to his retirement, Haye had stipulated that he would box on if either of the Klitschko brothers presented him with a lucrative offer of a title bout. Neither brother came forward with anything concrete, although the feeling amongst many in boxing was that this could have been more down to a concerted effort by the brothers, who view Haye as a lucrative irritant, to keep him in check.

Wladimir Klitschko is scheduled to defend his WBA/WBO/IBF heavyweight titles against former world cruiserweight champion Jean Mark Mormeck on December 10. Older brother Vitali has no opponent scheduled, despite attempts to nail down a fight against WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck - a matchup that would be big box office in Germany. 40 year old Klitschko is prepared to defend his title against the WBC no.1 contender, America's Chris Arreola, but as he has already hammered Arreola to a one-sided 10th round defeat in 2009, a Klitschko v Arreola rematch could be a tough sell at the box office – and Dr. Eisenfaust (Dr Ironfist to you and I) is determined to make as much money as possible from his remaining time in the ring.

On paper at least, Vitali Klitschko v David Haye looks to be an exciting matchup, featuring as it does the two men with the highest knockout percentages of all heavyweight champions past and present.

At the weekend, The Daily Telegraph's MMA and occasional boxing writer Gareth A Davies broke a somewhat slender story of a ''camp insider'' stating that Haye was ''back in training last week, starting to get into shape'' ahead of a fight against Vitali Klitschko in March. The same contact went on to say:

''David was deeply disappointed with his performance against Wladimir last summer and does not want to go out with that as the final note in his career. Talks have been going on behind the scenes and this could be his swansong fight.''

Since the Telegraph's story, Haye's manager and trainer Adam Booth has told Sky Sports: "Yes I've had phone calls and communication, but as far as I'm concerned at the moment, the fight isn't happening and David is retired. That's all I can say.''

Whether this weeks round of stories are just the media's attempts to ignite speculation in a possible Haye comeback or there is some basis to the rumors, most people within the fight game believe that it is only a matter of time before David Haye does indeed make a return to the ring. 

In boxing history, only three heavyweight champions - Gene Tunney, Rocky Marciano and Ingemar Johansson - retired while in their early thirties and never came back.  

The problem for David Haye is that while Tunney defeated Jack Dempsey twice to cement his legacy in heavyweight history and  Marciano defeated Joe Louis, Ezzard Charles, Jersey Joe Walcott and Archie Moore on the way to becoming the only heavyweight champion to retire with a perfect record, and at the moment David Haye's legacy, while still good, could be better.

As it stands, Haye's legacy is that he united the cruiserweight division and then won a version of the world heavyweight title, defeating the biggest champion in boxing history and then successfully defended his title twice twice - outstanding feats in themselves, and far more than the vast majority of professional boxers will achieve.

Ingemar Johansson was a realist. He saw the arrival of the new breed of jumbo-sized heavyweights led by Sonny Liston and a young Cassius Clay and turned his attention to business, becoming extremely wealthy. After getting knocked out at the final bell of his bout with Brian London and waking up to find he had won the decision, Ingo knew his limitations and said goodbye to boxing. 

The problem for David Haye is that because of the negative way he approached his fight with Klitschko, he doesn't truly know his limitations. If he had gone for broke and connected with several of his big shots, would things have been different? Unlike Tunney, Marciano and Johansson who retired content with their boxing legacies, Haye will always wonder ''what if... ?'' 

However if Haye were to lay waste to Vitali Klitschko in the spring of 2012, and then gain revenge over Wladimir in a rematch later in the year - feats that many including this writer believe he is still capable of - he would establish himself as the best  heavyweight champion of the new millennium – a legacy which David Haye would no doubt be happy with.