By Mark Vester
WBA heavyweight champion David Haye has returned some serious verbal fire. He believes Audley Harrison is creating stories in order to build his confidence up for their showdown on November 13 in Manchester. Harrison recently told reporters that Haye was knocked silly by sparring partner Tony Thompson. Haye denied the event ever took place. In a recent interview, Thompson told reporters that Haye busted him up in sparring and predicted a very easy win for the WBA champion.
"Audley wants to believe I got knocked down but it's a myth. I'm hoping he takes it on board because he's looking for things to give him a mental advantage. If he wants to believe I got knocked down in sparring, then keep believing it. If that's going to make him sleep a bit better at night then go for it. Tell him I got knocked down 500 times in sparring if that makes him feel better," Haye said. "I know it didn't happen and it's irrelevant. The guy's delusional, he seriously is."
The two former friends have been trading verbal fire for several weeks. Haye is confident that he's already secured a mental victory over the 2000 Olympic gold medal winner. He predicts a brutal knockout victory that forces Harrison to retire from the sport.
"I'm glad Audley's having his time in the spotlight and is getting some column inches. Hopefully he'll take all these newspaper clippings and make a book of them so that when he slinks back off to LA he can have a look at them. As long as he doesn't have photos from November 13 because all they'll be are images of his limp body in the ring," Haye said.
"I've known Audley since I was 17. I've sparred with him and seen him in the amateurs. I've talked to him behind closed doors, I know his demons and how to get into his head. I know how to mess him up in the ring."
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