By William Lloyd: Frank Warren says David Haye will need to get a ranking before he can start thinking about fighting WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
Haye (28-4, 26 KOs) called out Fury last weekend after his eight round unanimous decision win over his friend Joe Fournier in an exhibition match on Triller PPV in Hollywood, Florida.
In a bizarre call-out, the 40-year-old Haye said he has no interest in fighting anyone else to get in position for the fight with Fury. Haye just wants that fight.
Unfortunately, Fury won’t be able to accommodate Haye unless were an exhibition match because the WBC requires that voluntary defenses for their champions come against contenders ranked in the top 15.
Haye’s exhibition match against 38-year-old businessman Fournier likely did nothing to help him get the top-tier ranking that he needs with the World Boxing Council to get a fight with Fury.
If Haye is ambitious and is willing to put in some hard work, he should be able to earn a top 15 ranking with the WBC fairly soon by beating one or two top-rated contenders.
These are good options for Haye to achieve that end:
2. Andy Ruiz Jr.
3. Joe Joyce
4. Luis Ortiz
5. Joseph Parker
6. Michael Hunter
7. Agit Kabayel
8. Efe Ajagba
9. Filip Hrgovic
10. Tony Yoka
11. Frank Sanchez
12. Arslanbek Makhmudov
13. Dereck Chisora
14. Martin Bakole
15. Charles Martin
If Haye lacks the talent or the self-confidence to beat one or two of those fighters to EARN a title shot against Fury, he has no business calling him out.
Haye isn’t entitled to a fight with Fury based on what he’s done in the distant past many years ago. This isn’t professional wrestling. In other sports like the NFL, you got to earn a spot in the Super Bowl. It’s not given to you, and Haye has got things mixed up in his head with his sense of entitlement.
Haye needs to get ranked in the top 15
“I got a lot of respect for David, but he’s 40 years of age. He’s not a youngster,” said Frank Warren to iFL TV on David Haye. “Having said that, he’s suffered some bad injuries.
“Certainly against Tony Bellew. I’m not taking anything away from Tony Bellew. I fancied David Haye to beat him. Obviously, he had these injuries and shouldn’t have been in the ring in the first place.
“I don’t know if he got rid of the injuries or not. He’s calling out Tyson. It would be a huge fight; there’s no doubt about that.
“But he’s got to do a bit more before talking about Tyson Fury. Number one, he’d [Haye] have to get rated and to get rated, you have to fight rated fighters.
“No, I wasn’t surprised,” said Warren when asked if he was surprised to learn that Haye had called out Fury after his win over Joe Fournier last Saturday.
“I’ll tell you what, though. I was surprised about the fight; it really did surprise me. I never knew he [Haye] was going to be fighting.
“When it was announced, it was quite shocking. He was always going to beat Fournier, and that’s what he did,” said Warren about Haye.
Likely, Haye won’t bother trying to get a top 15 ranking with the WBC by beating a couple of top-tier contenders.
Haye will probably continue to call out Fury, and when the fight never happens, he’ll give him and likely continue with his Triller exhibition matches.
Warren talks Fury vs. Whyte
“I don’t think anything can be discussed until the 10th of October,” said Warren when asked about a future fight between Fury and Dillian Whyte.
“Get the 9th out of the way, and on the 10th, if that could be done and Dillian Whyte is sensible, I have no problem putting that fight. Yeah, we’d get the Millenium Stadium.
“Tyson says he wants to get out in December, but I think we have to wait until the 10th to see what happens.
“Anything can happen in boxing. God forbid he could get a cut eye or something and be out for a while. Fury and Joshua is the only fight we want to see.
“He’s [Joshua] got to come through that fight [with Oleksandr Usyk on September 25th]. I want Anthony Joshua to come through it, and I suspect Tyson will come through.
“Then we can see those two guys [Joshua and Fury] get it on. But they’ve got to deal with what they’ve got in front of them right now.
“Until they get their commitments out of the way, nothing can be agreed or signed.
“Once they get it done, we’ll sit around the table and get it done because that’s the fight that everybody is committed to deliver.
“They’ve got to be on the top of their game, Tyson and AJ. They’ve got to come through their respective commitments, and then we can move on from there,” said Warren.
If Whyte feels he’s got Fury in a position of weakness, he may price himself out of the fight by asking for too much. In that case, Fury should move on and wait to fight Anthony Joshua in 2022.
If Fury beats Joshua to become the undisputed heavyweight champion, he can revisit the negotiations with Whyte.
If Dillian is still asking for too much money, Fury can always vacate the WBC title and hold onto the IBF/WBA/WBO belts.
Fury-Whyte would be a big fight
“I think it’s a big fight,” said Warren when asked about his thoughts on a potential fight between Fury and Whyte.
“Tyson hasn’t fought there in a long time. It’s a big fight, it’s a homecoming, and him against a Brit would make it even better.
“I want to see him fight here, and the fans want to see him fight here. That’s the most important thing.
“We want to see him fight here. That’s where he’s from and where he’s done the business,” said Warren.
If Fury can get through his October 9th trilogy fight with the hard-punching Wilder unscathed, a quick turnaround to face Whyte in December would be a great move.
It would not only show a lot of courage on Fury’s part to take on Whyte, but it would help make his undisputed clash with Anthony Joshua a bigger fight.
Facing Whyte would sharpen Fury up to prepare him for a much tougher clash against Joshua, and that’s something he’s going to need. Slicing through Deontay on October 9th might not do much for Fury because that fight could be another mismatch.
Whyte’s a different story. He’s got a good chin, and he’s rugged enough to stick around until the later rounds against Fury.
There’s a lot to gain for Fury fighting Whyte in December to ready himself for the much tougher fight against Joshua in the first quarter of 2022.
