By William Mackay: WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (24-1, 22 KO’s) is concerned about having his boxing legacy ruined if he were to lose to 39-year-old challenger Audley Harrison (27-4, 20 KO’s) in their fight on November 13th at the M.E.N. Arena, in Manchester, England.

Whether Haye loses to Harrison or not, Haye has done a fair job of ruining his legacy without even getting beaten by choosing weaker opponents to fight, looking for the path of least resistance and avoiding fights with the Klitschko brothers. Haye doesn’t even need to lose to Harrison to screw up his legacy, because he’s done a lot of damage to it already in the past year.

Haye told Sportinglife.co.uk “He’s [Harrison] going to try to take a big steaming c**p on it and I can’t let that happen. I cannot allow Audley Harrison to ruin my legacy.”

It’s sad that Haye sees a loss to Harrison as something that will destroy his legacy. Haye needs to put things into perspective. Haye’s career could still be a huge success even with a loss to Harrison if Haye would only step up and start taking on top fighters like the Klitschko brothers and other top fighters, instead of looking to milk his title for as long as he can.

Haye obviously has chosen the 39-year-old Harrison, who many people see as undeserving of a title shot, because Haye sees him as someone he can easily beat and get a big payday. Haye needs to be a lot more of a risk taker with his career if he’s concerned about his legacy, and while he’s at it, he needs to forget about retiring at 31 like he’s been talking about.

That looks like a wimp move for someone that’s too worried about his legacy and wants to get out before he starts taking losses. A fighter that competes until they start to lose their ability is more respected by fans than someone that gets out of the sport early because they’re afraid of getting beaten in my view.

Haye says “This is it. Be careful what you wish for. He [Harrison] might have had a chance against some of the other champions out there but not me. I know him way too well.”

I suppose Haye is referring to domestic and European champions when he says that Harrison “might have had a chance against some other champions. “ Haye can’t be talking about the Klitschkos, because they’re both considered a lot better than Haye. Could it be that Haye is again overestimating his own talent?