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David Haye appeared on ESPN Friday Night Fights with ringside commentators Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas on Friday night at the Brad King Solomon vs Demetrius Hopkins fight in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Haye, sporting an Angelo Dundee Fifth Street Gym t-shirt, stated he has been training in Miami. Haye said he is eager to finally have the opportunity to face Wladimir, who he and Atlas agreed is the mentally weaker of the two Klitschko brothers, because they have seen him stopped before and that he has mentally “given in.”
Atlas advised Haye not to try to box Wladimir at range and Haye agreed with that point, praising Wladimir’s effective style.
Tessitore asked Haye how he thinks he can defeat Wladimir and Haye responded by mentioning his reign as undisputed cruiserweight champion, his outstanding speed and skills, that of which Wladimir has never seen before. Haye said he has already defeated a man much bigger than himself – Nikolay Valuev – and that Wladimir has never had to fight a man bigger than himself, apparently forgetting or ignoring the fact that Wladimir defeated Ray Austin and Tony Thompson, and that Valuev’s handlers adamantly refused to ever allow Valuev to step in the ring with Wladimir or Vitali.
Haye looked and sounded somewhat confident, however, to be honest, his words lacked force and conviction. Not that he has to be persausive and convincing with his words at this point, but I was expecting more after all the talk Haye has done over the last two years.
At the end of the two minutes on the air, Tessitore noted that the whole world is looking forward to this colossal World Heavyweight Championship showdown and Haye quickly added, with a big smile, that nobody is looking forward to this more than he himself.
Which begs the question: Now that the contracts are all signed at 50-50% and the fight will likely be in Germany, what took so long for Haye to finally agree? If he really wants the fight more than the fans and Wladimir, why did he wait so long to finally sign?
Looks like we will find out all the answers to all questions later this summer.
