By Terence Dooley
Manchester's Carl 'The Cat' Thompson upset the applecart by handing David Haye, then 10-0 (10), his sole professional career defeat back in 2004. Thompson took a lot of punishment early in the contest before turning things around to register a fifth round stoppage win. Haye, out-gunned during the last two rounds of the fire fight, was stopped on his feet; the brash Londoner was still motioning his opponent forward even as referee Terry O’Connor halted the contest.
Thompson has told The Telegraph that Haye will have to stick around beyond his stated October retirement date in order to flesh out his heavyweight CV. “David Haye hasn’t achieved that much in the heavyweight division yet. Who has he really fought?” mused Carl, a former WBO cruiserweight title-holder.
He added: “If he intends to retire and leave a legacy as a great heavyweight, he shouldn’t retire yet. You can’t say you’re great without beating one, or both, of the Klitschko brothers. I don’t know why he says these things [about retiring], he must have his reasons, maybe his appetite for boxing on is not great. For me, he has not achieved anything yet in the heavyweight division.”
Haye hopes to defend his WBA title against Ruslan Chagaev yet may find himself with no option but to look elsewhere. Rick Reeno yesterday revealed that the BBBoC had previously stated that Ruslan would not be given permission to fight in the UK due to his 2007 and 2009 hepatitis B scares.
In the meantime, both Klitschkos have finalised the bulk of their 2011 schedule, leaving Haye out in the cold for the remainder of the year unless either Derek Chisora, who fights Wlad in April, or Odlanier Solis, challenger to Vitali’s WBC title in March, pull off huge upsets and then move onto a fight against Haye, hardly likely given the Klitschkos alleged stringency when it comes to inserting rematch clauses in their fight contracts.
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