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Haye: I will fight Klitschko before I quit

15 November 2010 23:21 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. David Haye expects to fight one of the Klitschko brothers next year before he retires, the WBA heavyweight champion told CNN on Monday, APA reports quoting CNN.
The 30-year-old defended his title for the second time on Saturday night with a one-sided three-round stoppage of his former friend, the 2000 Olympic champion Audley Harrison.
He has now set his sights on the Klitschkos, who hold the rest of the heavyweight division’s four belts between them.
Wladimir Klitschko, the IBF, IBO and WBO champion, had earlier told CNN that Haye is "a clown" and had bailed out on fights with the Ukrainians three times in the past.
"I was scheduled to fight him a couple of years ago, I got injured and the fight didn’t happen for one reason or another, but the fight will happen next year," Haye told World Sport’s Kate Giles.
"It makes millions and millions of dollars and pounds for both of us. I’m retiring next year, so it has to happen next year. He wants the fight to happen on his terms, he feels he’s superior to me, but I generate more money than him and it blows his mind. He doesn’t know how to deal with that. Get his people to call my people, and let’s get the fight on."
The British fighter, who moved up to heavyweight after unifying the cruiserweight division by holding the WBA, WBC, WBO and The Ring magazine titles, denied suggestions that he needs to face Klitschko to give himself more credibility.
Wladimir needs me more than I need him. He doesn’t know how to deal with it. I believe the fight will happen next year.

"My place in history is already there. I’m the undisputed cruiserweight champion, and only the second man in history to become the cruiserweight champion and then the heavyweight champion," the Londoner said.
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"I had my defining fight against a 7ft 2in Nikolai Valuev, two title defenses ... this fight against Audley Harrison was the biggest fight in Britain for 17 years.
"I’d love to put the cherry on the cake by having a Klitschko there, but if you look at Wladimir’s record, what fighter could you think of that he’s had a career-defining fight against? He hasn’t. He’s had 50-odd fights and you can’ think of any big fights he’s actually had.
"He needs me more than I need him. He doesn’t know how to deal with it. I believe the fight will happen next year and I believe I will knock him out in the same way, and I will predict the round I’ll knock him out in as well."
The fight with Harrison was billed as "Best of Enemies" as the 39-year-old looked to complete his career revival with a shock victory over his former sparring partner.
Haye, who fell out with Harrison several years ago, gave up almost 20 kilograms in weight to the challenger but lived up to his pre-fight predictions that he would end the fight in the third round.
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"Audley talks such a tremendous game, he was saying he was going to rip this title off me, said he was going to be in my face for every second of every round, but Audley came to the ring and he wasn’t able to do that, I didn’t allow him to do that," Haye said.
"I hoped for more of a contest. I got myself in tremendous condition, I weighed a career lightest for this fight -- 210 pounds for a heavyweight is quite small -- but I wanted to fast I wanted to be alive, I wanted to make sure all bases were covered no matter what Audley brought to the table.
"Unfortunately Audley didn’t come to engage in battle, he came there to try not to get hit. For the first couple of rounds I was thinking he was trying to sucker me in to doing something, but no I thought it’s time to close the show.
"I predicted the third round, I told everyone to put money on the third round because no way am I going to let Audley go into that fourth round."
Haye was criticized by longtime boxing entrepreneur Frank Warren for having told people exactly when to bet on a result in a fight he was also promoting, but insisted he had not profited personally.
The British Boxing Board of Control will discuss Haye’s comments about betting at its next meeting in December, the UK Press Association reported on Monday.
"I physically didn’t go into a betting shop and say ’Here’s Â£100,000 -- put it on me for the third round.’ A lot of close friends and family put it on me and they got 11-1, so a lot of people owe me a lot of drinks," he said.
"I believed I was going to knock him out in three, Audley believed he was going to knock me out in two rounds - I’m not sure if he put money on himself, he would have been an idiot to do that!
"Muhammad Ali used to predict rounds, I remember him coming over to fight Henry Cooper and predicting the round he was going to knock him out. He actually got knocked down the round before, but he produced the goods. I think it’s just something that makes boxing a bit more exciting."
Haye blamed Harrison, whose career is again in doubt after suffering a fifth defeat in 31 professional fights, for not putting up enough of a showing.
"I think Audley’s performance didn’t do boxing any favors. He was the challenger, and when you’re the challenger you’ve got to go and try to rip the title from the champion.
"When I boxed Nikolai Valuev, the giant from Russia -- a monster -- I had to implement a tremendous game-plan. I moved around the ring, I threw the punches I need to throw, I hurt him in the last round. Two of the three judges had me winning by about eight rounds, so I ripped the title off the giant. This was Audley’s chance to do the same thing, but we didn’t see that."