By Edward Chaykovsky
How much does Tyson Fury (25-0, 18KOs) hate his domestic rival David Haye? Enough that he would reject an offer of £100 million [142 million USD] to fight him.
Fury will never forgive Haye for withdrawing from their two scheduled dates to face each other.
Haye (27-2, 25 KOs), a two-division world champion, finally made his comeback after being inactive for over three years and wiped out Mark de Mori in the first round on January 16th at the O2 Arena in London. Fury was across the ocean in Brooklyn, where he confronted WBC champion Deontay Wilder following his knockout of ArturSzpilka the Barclays Center.
Fury is very, very upset over Haye's withdrawals - because of the time and money that was wasted during those periods. Back then, he vowed never to set a date against Haye in the future. Haye would have never imaged that Fury would become the man to become the unified champion in the division by ending Wladimir Klitschko's decade long reign last November.
Fury was not impressed with Haye's victory in any manner.
The win gave Haye a number 9 ranking in the WBA's top ten. If Haye works his way to a mandatory position, Fury was promised to rejected the fight and then dump the WBA title in the trash. Fury is set to face Klitschko in an immediate rematch in the coming months.
Fury told Sky Sports: "I didn't see it, to be honest. I heard he was fighting a no-hoper. I was in New York city building a big fight while he was fighting some bum in London. He fought a bum but what can you expect after three years out? I've made it quite clear, after what he did to me twice I'll never give him the fight. I'll never give him a pay day so people can try and build it and do what they want to do.
"He's trying to get money from me. I'm not prepared to give it to him. Just like he wasn't prepared to give me any money, I'm not prepared to give him any money. He is a bum and he's going nowhere. He has had his shot and he's only a cruiserweight anyway. It's great to be in this position. It's like a freezing cold beer straight out of the fridge - that's what it feels like.
"If he was mandatory for the WBA belt, I'd chuck it in the bin, because what does it really mean anyway? Let him fight someone else for it. I'm not interested in his name, his reputation or anything. As far as I'm concerned, he's not even in my division. No matter who he beats or who he knocks out, I'll never fight him. I don't care if they offer me £100 million. It's about principles. I trained hard for two fights with him and he retired rather than fight. Now let him make some money off his own back."