Four more fights and that’s my lot, vows champ Haye
BRITAIN’S world heavyweight champion David Haye has set himself a four-fight target before taking early retirement.
Haye came through the first defence of his WBA crown with a ninth round stoppage of American John Ruiz in Manchester on Saturday.
But at the tender age of 29, the Hayemaker is already planning to hang up his gloves – but only after he gets a crack at world champion brothers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko.
“I want to retire before I’m 31,” Haye said. “Four fights would be ambitious and I’d need to get cracking so the sooner we can get these fights [with the Klitschkos] sorted the better.
“They’re the guys that hold other title belts, so in an ideal world I’d like to snatch their belts off them and add them to my mantle. I want those big fights, I want the fights that the fans want to see.
“We’re going to start sitting around the table. They’ve both got fights coming up, so once they’ve got their obligations out of the way, we’ll sit down and thrash it out.
“Whenever we do get in the ring, it’s going to be an amazing fight.”
Haye’s demolition of Ruiz at the MEN Arena has made him hot property on both sides of the Atlantic and discussions are set to take place between Haye’s trainer Adam Booth and Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions this week, while there are also suggestions that former champion, the giant Russian Nikolay Valuev, is contractually obliged to a rematch with Haye.
Any fight with either Klitschko would earn Haye an estimated £10m purse but despite his pledge to retire early, the Londoner says money is not the issue. “Money doesn’t really enter my head in terms of boxing,” he added. “All I focus on is being the best boxer I can be.
“Money is not the reason I want to fight the Klitschko brothers, I want to prove I am the best. By beating them money will follow but for me it’s all about the legacy and the glory.”