David Haye Watches Monster Movies To Prepare For Boxing Giant Valuev

As Halloween approaches, David ‘The Hayemaker’ Haye plots a night of trick or treat on a ‘Beast’ next Saturday, November 7, when he confronts WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev in Nuremberg, Germany, in a bout screened live on Sky Box Office.

Set to face history’s tallest and heaviest ever boxing champion, Haye has ripped up the textbook and confronted the ‘The Beast From The East’ head on.

“This is the craziest fight of my life, in terms of preparation and the fight itself,” admits Haye, who faces the 7-feet-2-inches tall Valuev over a scheduled 12 rounds.

“Valuev looks like the bogeyman. Kids try and remove his mask when he goes trick-or-treating on Halloween. He’s a big, scary and intimidating guy and a lot of people are scared for me in this fight.

“I’m having to do things I’ve never done in my life before. I’m punching up for the first time in my career and, not only that, I have to almost leap with my punches. I’m sparring with big lumps, guys that are weighing upwards of 20-stone in weight and standing at around the 7-foot mark. It’s taking its toll on my body each and every session, but it’s a price I have to pay.”

In order to tame ‘The Beast’, Haye, 22-1 (21 KO), must first stare into its eyes and realise the full extent of what he’s dealing with. In over 50 professional bouts, Valuev has never been dropped, never been stopped and has knocked out 34 of 50 beaten foes. The Russian giant has cut a formidable figure to most that have confronted him.

“A lot of Valuev’s opponents simply don’t know how to deal with the size aspect,” adds Haye. “His opponents are overwhelmed as soon as they touch gloves at the start of the fight. Even though everyone knows Valuev is a giant, it often takes some of his opponents by surprise when they realise just how tall and heavy he is, as well as the fact he can box a bit, too.”

Wary of being overwhelmed upon hearing the first bell, Haye has been preparing for the mental battle by watching a number of famous monster movies.

“In between training sessions, I’ll often watch DVDs of King Kong, Godzilla or Frankenstein, just to keep my mind on the task in hand and remind myself of the magnitude of the challenge,” explains Haye.

“The more you watch regular human beings getting terrorised by over-sized monsters, the more you can accept this fight with Valuev as normality. It’s no longer quite so scary.

“If anything, it’s more beneficial watching monster movies than other boxing videos, as there haven’t been many size match-ups in boxing as drastic as what fans can expect from us two on November 7. Whereas in Hollywood, anything goes.”

Set to concede eight stone in weight and nearly a foot in height, Haye admits the challenge presented by Valuev would be more accustomed to the silver screen than the boxing ring.

“Nobody ever ran away and out-pointed Godzilla or King Kong over 12 rounds,” explains Haye, the former undisputed world cruiserweight champion. “Sigourney Weaver didn’t out-jab the Aliens and Roy Scheider never tried to clinch and hold Jaws.

“The monsters were all eventually destroyed in those movies and it took someone brave and bold enough to do the deed. I feel I’m the man to destroy Valuev on November 7.

“A script would make the job easier, of course, but I’ve always believed in letting my right and left fists do the talking for me. You wouldn’t be able to write the ending I have in store for Valuev, anyway.

“He may look like the thing that goes bump in the night, but I can assure everyone that when Valuev finally crashes to the canvas on November 7, Bruce Willis will think he’s just signed up for Armageddon 2.