Hobson\’s Choice: Herbie Hide.

Former two-times WBO heavyweight champion Herbie Hide has offered to save the day by stepping in to challenge British and Commonwealth Cruiserweight champion Mark Hobson next Friday following the withdrawal of original opponent and mandatory contender David Haye.

“Give me that job,” said Hide. “I don’t care about the timeframe; I will come in on just seven days notice and knock Hobson out in spectacular style.

“They need me to save the show – where else are they going to get a name as big as me?

“I know my promoter Hennessy Sports have offered me as a replacement to Richard Poxon, the matchmaker for the event.

“I can’t see any reason why he would turn me down. I am not asking for anything unreasonable; I will do it for the same money as David Haye was getting.

“And a few weeks back Poxon said in an article that all I had to do to get a fight against one of his cruiserweights was to pick up the phone – although we did do that to try and get a match against Carl Thompson and he wasn’t interested.”

It was only recently that Hide decided to move down to liven up the cruiserweight scene. He has always been able to make the limit for the division but opted to campaign – highly successfully – against much bigger men.

“I am only a few pounds over the cruiserweight limit right now,” added Hide. “I will get that off no problem. I have been keeping in shape so will be sharp enough to deal with the likes of Hobson.”