By Allan Fox: David Haye is volunteering to be an opponent for WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury if he needs someone to fight following his 11th round knockout victory over Deontay Wilder last Saturday night.
The 40-year-old former two-division world champion Haye (28-4, 26 KOs) believes he has the “experience” under his belt to potentially hand the undefeated Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) his first career defeat.
Haye had a chance to fight Fury twice many years ago, but he suffered injuries during training camp. Fury was very upset after the second pullout by Haye, and he made it clear that he wouldn’t waste his time trying to fight him again.
At this point, it’s unlikely that Fury would change his mind about Haye, especially with him retired and not having fought since 2018. Haye hasn’t won a fight in five years since his second round knockout victory over Arnold Gjergjaj in 2016.
With that long of an absence between wins, Haye has nothing to offer Fury because he’s been nonrelevant for too long.
What’s unclear is how Haye would go about getting a title shot against Fury, given that he’s not ranked in the top 15 by the World Boxing Council.
Although Haye recently defeated his buddy, 38-year-old businessman Joe Fournier by an eight-round decision in an exhibition match on September 11th, he hasn’t fought an active boxer in an actual fight since his fifth round knockout loss to Tony Bellew in May 2018.
It’s unlikely that Fury would agree to fight Haye in an exhibition match for his next fight, as he isn’t at the point in his career where he needs to the level of fighting those kinds of circus matches.
Generally, the exhibition matches are for washed-up old fighters who lack the youth, talent, or courage to take on the younger lions.
Fury doesn’t need to stoop to the level of fighting exhibitions like the over-the-hill guys that are taking advantage of their popularity among older boxing fans.
“I’m just saying; there’s going to be a time where they’re going to need an opponent. And ideally, you want an opponent that makes the most money. So FYI, the Hayemaker’s in the gym,” said Haye to iFL TV in volunteering to challenge Fury for his WBC title.
Someday, Fury may need an opponent, but he won’t need to look in Haye’s direction if he’s needy. Even if Fury was desperate for an opponent, he could still find almost anyone that would bring more to the table than Haye.
Former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. said he wants to fight Fury next. Now, that would be a great stay busy fight for Fury while he waits for Anthony Joshua to fight his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk next March.
Fury vs. Ruiz Jr. would play big in the U.S with the American boxing fans, and there would be interest from the UK.
In contrast, if Fury were to pick Haye, some UK fans would like the fight, but the Americans would view it as a mismatch and categorize it as an exhibition/celebrity type of match. They wouldn’t want to purchase Fury vs. Haye on PPV in the States.
“What someone needs to beat Tyson Fury hasn’t been shown before,” said Haye. “He looks unbeatable as any heavyweight on the planet right now,” said Haye.
“He’s taken the biggest shot from the biggest heaviest puncher, Wilder, on the button and found a way to win. So how to beat someone that’s invincible? Maybe experience can find a way,” said Haye with a smirk on his face.