By Edward Chaykovsky
Former two division world champion David Haye (27-2, 25 KOs) believes the British public will demand a hot domestic showdown with Olympic gold medal winner Anthony Joshua (15-0, 15 KOs) - if Joshua comes through and wins his upcoming fight with IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin on April 9th at the O2 Arena in London.
Haye returned to the ring last month, in what was his first bout since July of 2012 when he knocked out Dereck Chisora. In his comeback fight, he blew away top rated Mark DeMori in one round. Haye's next fight is scheduled for May.
Joshua, should he win the belt, is going to return in the summer, likely in late June, for a first defense.
As far as how long the fight would play out, Haye believes it could possibly end in a single round with a big punch catching Joshua on the chin and flattening him.
Joshua was momentarily rocked when he faced domestic rival Dillian Whyte last December. He was able to recover and knocked Whyte out in the seventh round.
"It might be a one-round job. I'm not saying that in a disrespectful manner. You know, as soon as I hit people on the chin, they stay hit. I hit them, they hit the floor – that's how it happens. It depends how long he can stay up for. I'm very fast, very agile and I punch ridiculously hard, so when you put those combinations together with a young guy. I was heavyweight champion of the world before he even started boxing. It's an interesting one," Haye told BBC Radio.
Haye says the upcoming fight with Martin will be a true test of Joshua's worth as a fighter.
"He's one of the best in the world and we'll fight out on 9 April just how good he is," Haye said. "I believe he is the real deal, everybody who has seen him ... there's not really much you can take from that and go, 'No, he's not much good because of X, Y and Z'. He's had 15 fights and 15 knockouts. I've been supporting him from the start. I'd love to get in the ring and see just how good he really is. If he wins this next fight, I'm pretty positive that public demand will say we gotta get the two best in there."
