By Phil D. Jay
Former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye will postpone his retirement after finally admitting that he never followed through on his words in his last fight with Wladimir Klitschko.
Haye, 30, talked up his chances of unifying the heavyweight division against the younger Klitschko brother only to lose his title in a whimper, citing a toe injury for hampering his ability to box to his full potential.
Speculation had mounted that Haye would delay his retirement and after speaking to German newspaper Bild in the last couple of weeks, the ‘Hayemaker’ has finally opened up to British reporter Gareth A. Davies of The Daily Telegraph.
"I wasn’t firing on all cylinders, for whatever reason,” Haye admitted.
“It wasn’t the real me in there, and you always want to go out showing everybody what you really have.
"So if I go out there and give 100%, I know I have a good chance of beating Vitali.
“The only way I can prove that I can do what I said before I faced Wladimir, is go out there and redeem myself in my mind against Vitali. At 100% fit, you would see the real fighter I have in me out there.
“I’d still fight Wladimir again, too. Vitali and Wladimir are the only two fights on the planet I would break my retirement plans for.
“It’s not about money for me. I know I underachieved against Wladimir.”
There has been continuing statements from WBC champion Vitali Klitschko that he wants to ‘knock out Haye’ for comments he made about the brothers before the July fight with Waldimir and he is the favorite to face the Briton in what would be a do or die fight for Haye’s boxing reputation.
"Vitali said after the Adamek fight that he wanted to fight me now. But I think it’s all talk. He realized he was not going to get any headlines for knocking out Adamek, so he threw my name out there. For some reason I don’t really think he wants to do it. If they contact us, and talk to us and are serious about it, I’ll consult my team."
Phil D. Jay covers the boxing scene for worldboxingnews.net