David Haye on MMA! Good read!

http://www.ironlife.com/forum/showth...25#post1400125

 

Good interview. Interesting read.

 

Interesting, thanks!

Big head/mouth on the guy, but so far he has delivered, so it will be exciting to see if he can follow up.

 

There you go manny;

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David Haye: 'I’d like to challenge the number one mixed martial arts fighter'
David Haye is without doubt one of the most entertaining boxers on the scene today. Boasting a fine amateur pedigree and genuine knock out power, Haye has torn through the competition and truly earned his spot as the world's number one cruiserweight.

In his most recent fight with Welsh power-puncher, Enzo Maccarinelli, 'The Haymaker' showed his class as he diposed of his over-matched opponent in less than two painful rounds.

Haye recently took the time to catch up with Ironlife.com to discuss his thoughts on the fight, up-coming career plans and his deep interest in the sport of mixed martial arts.

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What do you remember from your recent fight with Enzo Maccarinelli?

I just remember it went exactly as I planned it to go. I always knew that I was the superior athlete in every way shape or form. I knew he couldn’t out-speed me, I knew I was better than him in every department. So in my mind it had always been an easy fight since the first day people started talking about Enzo Maccarinelli. I watched one of his early fights and I thought, ‘This guy has got nothing on me.’

And, as time went by, people started hyping him up, he started having good wins against world ranked opponents, but that didn’t change the fact that I’m better than he is. Obviously, he went on to win a version of a world title and the hype started flowing and I’m sitting back watching all these people say how great this guy is, and I just thought, ‘I’m better than this guy’.

After I beat Mormeck, who I believe, and who was universally recognised as being the number one fighter in the world, he was still piping up, he was still saying ‘how can he say he’s the best in the world if he hasn’t beat me?’, so I thought, ‘OK, let’s get it on’ and made the fight happen, went down there and kicked his arse just like I said I would.

You seemed to be in pretty good shape for this one…

Yeah, I had to be; the whole thing about this fight was making the weight. It wasn’t about training to do anything specific in the fight that I needed to do, I always knew I could beat him, it was all about making the weight safely. So I was actually in training camp solidly for 9 months.

I had the fight in November which was with Jean-Marc Mormeck, which was originally scheduled for September, that fight got pushed back a couple of months so I stayed in training camp a little longer. I had a couple of days off and then I was straight back in the gym after November 10th WBC/WBA win.

So I’ve made cruiserweight, but I’ve struggled badly that time around, but staying in camp I just carried on training and as you saw from the weigh-in, there was not an ounce of fat on me, I was in as good a condition as any professional athlete can be in and I think the results showed.

Do you think you’ll have any trouble going up to heavyweight?

No, not at all. I envisage my heavyweight campaign to be a lot more successful than my actual cruiserweight campaign because I feel that I’ve got the speed on these guys. I punch just as hard if not harder than these guys and I’ve got a lot more pedigree than a lot of these guys.

I’m used to fighting faster guys, people think that boxing is about being all big and weighty - I’ve been hit by these big heavy guys and you see the shot coming – the shots that do the damage, the shots that hurt you are the short, crisp shots thrown by fast men. These big clumsy guys winding these shots up, I can see them all day long. I can see the shots coming and they are the shots that you can brace, you can ride, you can parry them, so I definitely feel that I’ll be a lot more effective at heavyweight than I was at cruiserweight.

Are there any specific fighters out there that you’d like to face?

The name I’m aiming at is Wladimir Klitschko. He’s the guy who’s regarded as the number one heavyweight on the planet; this is the guy that everyone sets their yardstick against. If you want to be the best you’ve got to beat the best and the best at the moment is Klitschko – he’s reigned supreme for the last few years. I don’t rate him that highly; he’s the best of a bad bunch, to be honest.

He’s big, he’s 6’7”, 18 stone, he’s an athlete and he’s ripped, so literally, he’s a specimen, no doubt about it. If you look at this guy, he’s as close to Ivan Drago as you’re going to get. He’s a handful, but I definitely feel with my superior speed and athleticism, I’ll get him out of there.

Are you concerned at all about going in to face a genuine, big heavyweight, are you worried at all that when you step in the ring you’ll get a bit of a shock?

Not at all. All my sparring is done with heavyweights, it always has been because cruiserweights can’t take my power in the gym, let alone in the ring. I’m used to mixing it up with these bigger guys and the one thing that every heavyweight I’ve ever sparred with – and I’ve sparred with hundreds of them – they all say, you’re the hardest punching fighter that they had ever been in the ring with and they can’t believe that someone as small as me can hit as hard and as quickly, it really does freak them out.

Every single one says that if you get in the ring and you’re that quick and you’re that accurate you could be heavyweight champion of the world. These heavyweights have no reason to lie – I do most of my training out in Miami, the word is out, out there and they realise that I’m a force. My last fight was screened on Showtime which was a real big coup for me, I was really happy with that for the fact that my American fanbase who have exclusively seen me on the internet, got an opportunity to see me live.

You know, we had to make the fight happen at 2am UK time to suit the Showtime scheduling, but there were 20,000 people crammed into the O2 arena in South London and it was a great atmosphere. People didn’t mind staying up that extra bit because they knew they were going to see some action, see some explosion and that’s exactly what I gave them.

In the fight with Enzo, was there a point when you really knew you had him?

I knew from the start – as soon as I signed the contract, it was just about going through the motions. As I said before the fight, I went on record as saying, the only thing I need to do for this fight is turn up on time, that’s it – and turn up, possibly, sober. That’s it. That’s all I had to do for this fight and the fight was mine.

There were no tactics required, all I had to do was go out there and do what I do natural and that’s break people down and take them out.

He came with the big talk, he employed Enzo Calzaghe, Joe Calzaghe’s father, as he was the Ring magazine trainer of the year. He tried to get his confidence from his coach. When he was interviewed before the fight he said, ‘yeah, I’ve got a great coach’. Listen. The coach gets out of the ring before the bell goes and if you’re relying on your coach to do the work for you, then you’re in the wrong sport.

Boxing is not about hiding behind a coach, boxing is about getting out there and becoming the best possible fighter you can be, going out there and producing the goods on your own. Whenever I heard of him he was saying there’s a great buzz in the gym, there’s a really good atmosphere we’re having blah, blah blah…

He kept talking like it was a team sport. He kept talking about how his coach was so great and how he was in such tremendous condition, but you have to realise that every world class athlete is in tremendous condition, why bring up the fact that you’re in great condition? Like I’m going to turn up out of shape?

These are the sort of comments when you know that someone doesn’t know what they’re on about. It’s like a sprinter saying before a race ‘Yeah, I’m in great shape, that’s why I’m going to win this race’. No, you’re going to win this race because you’re faster than anyone else, plain and simple. I’m a better athlete than him, that’s why I won this fight. I’m a better boxer, I’d be a better snooker player, better basketball player, better footballer – any type of sport, I’ll beat him and I think I pretty much showed that on the night.

Talking about a slightly stiffer challenger – there’s Jean-Marc Mormeck. I remember watching him years ago on Eurosport and he was smashing people all over the place. You fought him in his back yard; how did it feel to go over and fight him in Paris?

I watched it as you did, I watched his fights and for he was a lot tougher task than Enzo Maccarinelli. He was always going to be a hard fight, he has never shown anything in his career to say that he can get knocked out early, that he can get hit with one shot and fall over, that is not what this guy does.

This guy has got decent, tight defence. He’s got a real tight guard, he walks you down, he gets you throwing a lot of punches, gets you tired, breaks the body down and takes people out. That’s his bread and butter, that’s what he’s been doing for years – and I just could not allowed that to happen.

That fight was all about tactics, it was all about using my brain. It wasn’t about using my brawn, it was about being smart and tactically, getting it exactly how I wanted it. And it went well bar getting knocked down in the fourth round by a real crisp left hook he threw to my temple, it went pretty much exactly how I wanted it to.

 

Obviously, he was the number one fighter in the world, so you’ve got to expect to have a little rumble with that guy. I took his best shots, I got knocked down, I got back up – he took my best, he went down, he stayed down; that was the difference between us two.

Your fascinating fight with Carl Thompson… [in which Haye dished out a beating before his older rival came back to win by knock out in the 5th round]

It was a great fight, yeah. As a boxing fan, that was one of the most entertaining fights I have ever had, and ironically, the only fight that I have lost. It sounds a bit crazy as it’s long afterwards, but I still always wanted the rematch of that fight, though obviously the politics of the sport hasn’t allowed that to happen. Even as things stand now, I’d love to get revenge over Carl Thompson, I know I have improved and made the adjustments required, but still I take a look at my record at Boxrec and I see this red blob there, that one loss there really does stick out at me.

One day, hopefully, he’s retired now. He beat me, he had another fight, won that fight and then went into retirement. So if Chuck Liddell can come out of retirement, if Bernard Hopkins can fight on into his 43rd year, if George Foreman can do it till he’s 45, I’m hopping that one day I can tempt him out of retirement for a little rumble because I’m sure there’s a lot of people who feel there’s unfinished business between us two.

What did you learn from the fight, what did you take away from it?

I took away that you have to prepare properly, you have to do your research. You have to go into the fight with a fighter’s mentality; willing to die, willing to put it all on the line and you have to expect your opponent to be at his best. I thought that once I hit this guy, that he would hit the floor, plain and simple, but I wasn’t in the condition to throw the type of shots needed to win that fight.

I completely revamped my training schedule, I lead a different life to the one that I led before; I’m a lot more disciplined. Looking back, it was like I was playing at boxing compared to what I’m doing now. I’m a consummate professional in every way these days and I definitely feel that that single loss there was definitely required for me to take that further step to reach for the stars which I’ve done now, to be the undisputed champion, to be recognised as the number one.

For all the heavyweights out there to calling me out, Shannon Briggs, Wladimir Klitschko all mentioning me as an opponent, they all realise that I bring the big money and the big TV contracts. These guys want to be part of it, you know? They realise that if they fight me, there is going to be a big pay-per-view and that everyone is going to be earning money.

So these guys are calling me out now and it took that one loss to get me to this stage and I thank Karl Thompson for giving me that good hiding because sometimes a fighter does need a good, honest beating to wake him up. My dad always used to say, ‘those who don’t listen must feel’. I had people in my team telling me I needed to do things, but I wanted to do what I wanted to do and I paid the price. I took the responsibility on myself, I made the adjustments required and the rest is history.

So, now you’re doing very well and you’ve got those fighters calling you out – have you got any kind of message for them?

Bring it! Just like I did at cruiserweight, I fought the best possible opposition at every stage of my career and I’ve prevailed. I did what I had to do to get to the top. I fought hard fights, I fought a lot of unbeaten fighters, fighters who beat me in the amateurs.

I went over some old ground there, fought a guy called Giacobbe Fragomeni, he was the European heavyweight amateur champion, the guy had been to the Olympics and the World Championships. He was unbeaten in 21 fights coming into the fight, I didn’t have to fight him, but I chose to fight him because he was the type of guy would give me trouble, his style was designed to mess me up.

These were the kind of guys that I was chasing and I’ll be doing exactly the same in the heavyweights. Any guy that people think can punch hard or they can take my shots, those are the kind of guys that I’m chasing. The heavyweights better start running and hiding because I’m looking at knocking out bums all over the world.

You mentioned Chuck Liddell just before and I’ve got an interest in mma, I can’t lie to you… do you follow the sport at all?

Yeah, I do. I’m a big fan, when I was out in Miami, I went to the EliteXC fight with Kimbo, I saw that show out there. I enjoyed the show, I go to Cage Rage whenever I’m in the UK. I’m a big fan of mixed martial arts, I’m a big fan of combat sports in general. I definitely love watching it. I actually believe that I’d like to get involved in it once my boxing career is over.

Seriously? You’d be interested in competing yourself?

In an ideal world, this is what my plan would be - I’ve accomplished one part of my plan, which was to be undisputed cruiserweight champion of the world, once I’m at heavyweight, I’m not going to box into my 31st year. You know, I’ve been boxing since the age of 10 years old, 20 years in the game is enough for me. But what I’d like to do then, I’d like to challenge whoever’s regarded as the number one mixed martial arts fighter.

I’d probably have to train for a year and try and make that fight because I definitely feel that my reactions are good enough – and if I can get my ground game to a reasonable level… Obviously, I’m not going to be able to catch up with these guys who have been doing jiu-jitsu their whole lives.

Believe it or not, I come from a martial arts background, my father was a karate teacher, so I’ve got good legs. I’ve done judo, so I know what I’m doing. I train at a gym called the Third Space in Piccadilly which has a jiu-jitsu dojo and I get in there from time to time and have a roll around with the guys. They tell me I’m at a decent level, if I put some focus into it and put some time and effort into it… I’m a natural athlete, I can do anything that I want to do and I think that it would be definitely worth my while getting in to do it.

It’s just another challenge, I like to set myself goals and tasks and definitely fighting for the UFC heavyweight championship would be a real big thing for me and I’d do whatever was required to get that win. I’m a fighter, through and through – any kind of competition. I’d be a big underdog, and I’d actually like that. I like people writing me off. I used to fight in the street, I used to be a street fighter, so I’m not a traditional boxer, I’ve done martial arts since the age of 3. I might surprise a few people with my ground game.

Have you got a message for any fans out there?

Yeah, just keep watching me. I always fight the fight that the fans want to see. I live a healthy lifestyle, I go out there and put it on the line. I’m doing this sport for the fans and I don’t look at fans as just boxing fans, or mma fans. I think for some stupid reason there is some sort of divide. I think that boxing fans and mma fans should come together and unite and realise that boxing is boxing and mixed martial arts is mixed martial arts. At the end of the end, it’s all a similar thing. You can be avid fans of both sports, just like I am.

I’m a professional boxer, but I’ve been to a lot of mixed martial arts tournaments that were a hell of a lot more entertaining than some of the higher level professional boxing shows. So it’s not one or the other in my eyes. If you’re a fan of fighting and enjoy and good tear up, as long as the fighters are evenly matched and they show some heart and dedication…

A fight is a fight. I’ll stand in the rain watching two dudes fight in a park if the fight was competitive and I’ll enjoy is just as much as I would do Floyd Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya – I might even enjoy it more.

So, to the fans, just enjoy fighting, don’t pick a sport just enjoy all aspects of the sports.

 

He wants someday to tempt Carl Thompson out of retirement because "there is unfinished business". I don't how there is unfinished business. Thompson won. Simple. Is there unfinished business between Haye and Enzo or Haye and Mormeck?

 

As he says, he was a part time boxer then, never took the game seriously enough.

He obviously thinks the current Haye would have blown Thompson out of the water.

And it's always nice to avenge losses.

 

"A fight is a fight. I’ll stand in the rain watching two dudes fight in a park if the fight was competitive and I’ll enjoy is just as much as I would do Floyd Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya – I might even enjoy it more."

Priceless.

 

Interesting hes thinking about mma at 30+. Im a fan of both boxing and mma and its good to see others have a passion for both sports.

The prospects in mma may be more lucrative than boxing in 4 years time..who knows. With some take down defence and ground game he could be a heavyweight chuck liddell lol.

 

Yeah I am also a fan of both sports and your right its good to see boxers talk good about mma and vice versa. I don't know how serious Haye is about competing in MMA but I guess we will have to wait and see.