After the destruction job in his comeback fight in January after a three year hiatus, beating his Australian opponent Mark De Mori in less than three minutes, ‘The Hayemaker’ was quick to announce the date of his next fight; pencilled in to fight on May 21st at the 02 Arena.
After several televised interviews and a quick work out with his trainer Shane McGuigan, David Haye kindly had the time to speak to me and talked about his comeback, his next fight and some boxing talk in general.
What you been up to since your victory over Mark De Mori?
I had a week of media stuff about the wind down of the fight. I had a few days relaxing in the Caribbean, got back yesterday, now here I am. Did some training and media yesterday, trained earlier today as well, it’s been busy. Now busy promoting the next fight on May 21st. This will be the closest fight I’ve had in succession since 2007.
Three Million people tuned in to watch you beat Mark De Mori, will you be looking to use DAVE again for your fight on May 21st?
It peaked at 3.2 million so I was really happy with that. For me, its shows that the interest in boxing is still there and the interest in me is obviously still there so it lets me know that I’m still relevant after being out after three and a half years!
I’m sitting down with DAVE over the next few days, I haven’t seen any of them since then [the De Mori fight] for a full debrief to talk about how they found it, how we found it, if we want to do it again and if we do so, how is that going to go down. But it was really good, I was happy with their coverage and the people that tuned in were over the moon, it was free!
Are you looking to fight any one specifically on May 21st?
There’s no one that jumps out at me. I want to fight someone with a good record, I want to fight someone who wants to come to win, who’s strong and can ask me some questions. We’re looking through the world rankings trying to find someone that’s suitable. There’s one thing finding someone suitable, it’s another thing asking them to come over to England when they probably know they’re going to get knocked the spark out. It’s a tough task but we’re got a good team of people working on it at the moment and we will find someone good.
Looking at the Heavyweight Division at this current time, do you think it will be a tougher task this time round to become World Champion?
No not at all. I’ve been world champion already, I had big guys to fight including a unified clash with a fit, primed Wladimir Klitschko. That guy I fought isn’t around any more, he’s long gone. Your got a 2016 model now who isn’t what he once was.
If the fight came up against Klitschko would you take it?
He wouldn’t take it, no way. He’s way too slow now, he knows what would happen if we were to fight each other now. I’ve made my peace with that fight, I know I didn’t perform. Even if he beats Tyson Fury, he’s going to retire.
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What are your thoughts on the WBA’s new tournament?
It makes some good fighters fight each other which is good. If it encourages people to fight in tournaments to get the fights then I’m all for that. You’ve got Browne vs Chagaev on March 5th. On the other side of the draw you’ve got Luis Ortiz fighting Alexander Dimitrenko [Ortiz is now fighting Tony Thompson] and the winner of that fights the winner of Fury and Klitschko so yeah they are some good fights, so yes I think its a good thing. I’ve got no problems with that at all.
What are your thoughts on the British Heavyweight scene at the minute?
You’ve got Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte, who just got knocked out by him [Joshua] and Chisora. I think they are the big names in Britain. I think Anthony Joshua stands head and shoulders above the rest of the domestic fellows.
George Groves returned to the ring after his third career loss, what did you think of his performance?
I thought he looked good. He looked really nice, relaxed, sharp and put his punches together nicely. His jab to the body was great, his jab to the face was even better. He controlled the fight and dealt with an opponent of that quality the way good fighters do. He didn’t struggle over points with him, he got him out of there, systematically broke him down and didn’t take anything heavy in the process; that’s the most important thing for me.
Shane’s [McGuigan] been working hard with him and got him in a good place and it’s definitely onwards and upwards for him. It’s good that he’s back in the winning bracket right now, that was a tough loss last time out, it was a close fight and could of gone either way.
Like you said, George is in a good place right now and your clearly enjoying your boxing. Is Shane McGuigan any part of why that is?
Yes it must be. He’s the guy that gets everybody motivated. He’s very organised with what he does, he lives and breathes boxing and he’s getting result with what he does.
It’s been recently announced that Derek Chisora will be fighting Kubrat Pulev, how do you see that fight going?
Pulev on points. I’d like to see Chisora win that fight but if they’re fighting in Germany or Eastern Europe than you’ve got to go with Pulev on points. He [Pulev] has only lost to [Wladimir] Klitschko and Chisora is no Klitschko.
