By William Mackay: WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (24-1, 22 KO’s) has one of the best heavyweight sparring partners in the division in 38-year-old southpaw Tony Thompson (34-2, 22 KO’s) to help Haye train for his November 13th bout against southpaw Audley Harrison (27-4, 20 KO’s). Speaking to the Dailymail.co.uk, Haye says “I’ve only had 45 seconds of southpaw experience in eight years of being a professional, which is why the main sparring partner I’ve got is Tony Thompson. I believe he’s the best southpaw in the world. He’s a world ranked fighter who has been on the cusp himself.” Haye is right.

The 6’5″ Thompson is one of the best heavyweights in the division and is ranked #12 by the WBC. He was previously ranked high, but after losing a 11th round TKO to IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in 2008, Thompson’s rankings has plummeted. You can make an argument that Thompson is good enough to beat both Haye and Harrison. I already see him as a lot better than Harrison, but I also think Thompson could handle Haye as well.

Thompson has an excellent jab that he likes to use a lot, and his right hook is very good at catching his shorter opponents as they’re coming forward. I can see Thompson knocking Haye out. This is really the guy that Haye should be fighting, and not someone with zero experience against upper level opposition like Harrison. But Thompson doesn’t have a huge following in the United States the way that Harrison does in the UK. If Thompson fought in the UK, he’d probably would have been a wealthy star a long time ago. There’s just not a lot of heavyweights over there with talent, but he ones that they do have, the British public really seem to back.