By Terence Dooley
David Haye, 28, is hoping to overcome his height disadvantage by sparring with MMA monsters ahead of his November showdown with Nikolai Valuev.
Haye is 6ft 5, Valuev is around 7ft tall, and Haye has had to tailor his sparring to take this into account. Haye told The Mirror that he has turned to the MMA world in order to get some adequate sparring.
“I've got a few secret weapons, and friends in the world of mixed martial-arts are looking out for giants to help me prepare in the gym,” said Haye. “I have seen men even bigger than Valuev fighting in the cage and hopefully I will sign a few of them up for some serious sparring sessions. Valuev is extreme and it will take something extraordinary to take him down.”
It is reminiscent of David Tua's pre-fight preparation for his title tilt against Lennox Lewis in 2000. Tua worked with WWE star The Rock in order to get used to Lewis' physical strength, alas, the training failed, Tua lost every round, and his most telling contribution to that bout was his spiky hairstyle, which cause quite a pre-fight stir.
However, Haye is no Tua, and Valuev is certainly no Lewis, Haye may well be able to do a job on the big European.
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