Tweet
David Haye sets sights on rematch with Wladimir Klitschko
David Haye would "love" a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko following his unanimous points defeat to the Ukrainian and hinted that he may now delay his retirement as it would be disappointing to go out on a defeat.
Haye, who revealed afterwards he had a broken a toe in training three weeks before the bout, said: "I'd love to fight him 100% healthy. What I want and what I might get are different things. Even with the injury that I had, even being sub par, I still managed to rock him a couple of times. At no stage was I out on my feet. He hit me with some of his best shots – a lot of people said Wladimir is going to hit [me] on the chin, they said [it] would guarantee I would get knocked out. I've proved that I'm a genuine heavyweight champion, I took the shots and lost on points so I no longer hold my [WBA] title.
"But I proved a lot of people wrong and yes, I'd love a rematch, of course I would. He said he could knock me out and I'd love him to give it a go. If he couldn't knock me out with one leg, pretty much, how about when I'm [fit]?" Asked about the prospect of a rematch Klitschko, who won by a clear 117-109, 118-108 and 116-110 count, said: "I definitely didn't expect another answer [regarding Haye's desire for a second go]. Next time I'll knock [him] out. It is a logical question, who is going to be the next opponent?"
Klitschko now holds the IBO, IBF, WBO, WBA and Ring magazine belts while his elder brother, Vitali, holds the WBC version. Although the negotiations for Haye and Wladimir to finally fight were agonised, the lack of other credible heavyweights in the division may enhance the Bermondsey fighter's prospects of a rematch.
Klitschko added: "I would say: 'Who is out there to fight?' If you take the bible of boxing, Ring magazine, and see who is the pound-for-pound champion, who is their No1? Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. So probably I would call Manny Pacquiao out to fight me but it's a mismatch because of the size [difference]. I'm not ready now to answer any questions if there's going to be a rematch with David Haye."
Haye had planned to retire on his 31st birthday, which is on 13 October, but due to the toe injury, he might have to box on beyond that date if he wants a rematch. He said: "Losing wasn't an option for me, I never anticipated losing at all, it wasn't part of my plan. So I'm going to have a good think about what I'm going to do next. I've always said I was going to retire in October, and I'll have to have a really good think about it.
"It'd be disappointing to finish on a loss particularly when I know I wasn't firing on all cylinders tonight. Wladimir is one of the biggest punchers in the world, and considering I was 30lbs lighter than him he should have put me away."
While Haye and Adam Booth, his trainer and manager, stated they were unsure how precisely he injured the toe, Klitschko criticised him for speaking about the injury following the contest. After hearing about the problem for the first time in the post-bout press conference the 35-year-old said: "I give him advice. Never say anything right now in the way of a broken toe: it's called a sore loser. It doesn't matter what you say, in the public eye it won't look good. I could pull out certain things as well, but in my experience it's definitely wrong to do that."
Klitschko's view found a consensus among the boxing fraternity. While Frank Bruno, a former world heavyweight champion, stated he should not have fought with the injury, Frank Warren branded Haye a "cry-baby". The promoter said: "He shouldn't be in the fight if he had a broken toe. Why be a cry-baby after the event? It's ridiculous. When your title's on the line you've got to give your all and he just didn't do that. I thought it was quite embarrassing. You'd think he'd be a bit more gracious in defeat."
David Haye would "love" a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko following his unanimous points defeat to the Ukrainian and hinted that he may now delay his retirement as it would be disappointing to go out on a defeat.
Haye, who revealed afterwards he had a broken a toe in training three weeks before the bout, said: "I'd love to fight him 100% healthy. What I want and what I might get are different things. Even with the injury that I had, even being sub par, I still managed to rock him a couple of times. At no stage was I out on my feet. He hit me with some of his best shots – a lot of people said Wladimir is going to hit [me] on the chin, they said [it] would guarantee I would get knocked out. I've proved that I'm a genuine heavyweight champion, I took the shots and lost on points so I no longer hold my [WBA] title.
"But I proved a lot of people wrong and yes, I'd love a rematch, of course I would. He said he could knock me out and I'd love him to give it a go. If he couldn't knock me out with one leg, pretty much, how about when I'm [fit]?" Asked about the prospect of a rematch Klitschko, who won by a clear 117-109, 118-108 and 116-110 count, said: "I definitely didn't expect another answer [regarding Haye's desire for a second go]. Next time I'll knock [him] out. It is a logical question, who is going to be the next opponent?"
Klitschko now holds the IBO, IBF, WBO, WBA and Ring magazine belts while his elder brother, Vitali, holds the WBC version. Although the negotiations for Haye and Wladimir to finally fight were agonised, the lack of other credible heavyweights in the division may enhance the Bermondsey fighter's prospects of a rematch.
Klitschko added: "I would say: 'Who is out there to fight?' If you take the bible of boxing, Ring magazine, and see who is the pound-for-pound champion, who is their No1? Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. So probably I would call Manny Pacquiao out to fight me but it's a mismatch because of the size [difference]. I'm not ready now to answer any questions if there's going to be a rematch with David Haye."
Haye had planned to retire on his 31st birthday, which is on 13 October, but due to the toe injury, he might have to box on beyond that date if he wants a rematch. He said: "Losing wasn't an option for me, I never anticipated losing at all, it wasn't part of my plan. So I'm going to have a good think about what I'm going to do next. I've always said I was going to retire in October, and I'll have to have a really good think about it.
"It'd be disappointing to finish on a loss particularly when I know I wasn't firing on all cylinders tonight. Wladimir is one of the biggest punchers in the world, and considering I was 30lbs lighter than him he should have put me away."
While Haye and Adam Booth, his trainer and manager, stated they were unsure how precisely he injured the toe, Klitschko criticised him for speaking about the injury following the contest. After hearing about the problem for the first time in the post-bout press conference the 35-year-old said: "I give him advice. Never say anything right now in the way of a broken toe: it's called a sore loser. It doesn't matter what you say, in the public eye it won't look good. I could pull out certain things as well, but in my experience it's definitely wrong to do that."
Klitschko's view found a consensus among the boxing fraternity. While Frank Bruno, a former world heavyweight champion, stated he should not have fought with the injury, Frank Warren branded Haye a "cry-baby". The promoter said: "He shouldn't be in the fight if he had a broken toe. Why be a cry-baby after the event? It's ridiculous. When your title's on the line you've got to give your all and he just didn't do that. I thought it was quite embarrassing. You'd think he'd be a bit more gracious in defeat."
Comment