David Haye immediately set his sights on a "mega showdown" with Vitali Klitschko after being crowned as the new WBA heavyweight champion.

Haye became Britain's first heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis retired in 2003 with a points victory over the 7ft 2in Russian giant Nikolai Valuev in Nuremberg and the 29-year-old now faces a mandatory defence against John Ruiz while Klitschko, the WBC champion, faces off against the American Kevin Johnson on December 12 in Berne.

But both men are angling for a unification clash in 2010 and Haye told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek: "Let's bring it on and make it happen. I have got to get John Ruiz out of the way and then we can get a mega showdown next year."

Klitschko claimed he would fight Haye "at any time and knock him out".

The Ukrainian said: "Full congratulations (to Haye). It was a good performance, a good points win. It was very close.

"It is a good fight for the future, maybe. I am ready to fight anyone in the world. I am ready to show to everyone I am the strongest in the world."

However, promoter Frank Warren does not rate Valuev and he believes Haye's quality as world champion can only be judged when he faces one of the Klitschko brothers.

"Nobody can tell me Valuev is a quality heavyweight. He is not even an average heavyweight," said Warren. "People talk about Valuev like he is something special. He is probably one of the poorest heavyweights ever seen.

"Everybody gets carried away. Just because he is a giant of a man doesn't mean he is a good fighter.

"John Ruiz is a guy who was beaten by Roy Jones. It is when you start talking about the Klitschkos, they are totally different fights. They are guys who can box and throw punches. That is when you will see whether Haye can do it at that level. Beating Valuev is not the yardstick."