http://boxing.fanhouse.com/2010/08/1...e-klitschkos/?

FanHouse: What is going on with the Audley Harrison fight?

David Haye: That's not been arranged yet. No date, no venue, no opponent has been arranged yet. I should know in about two, three weeks. So we're just working that out at the moment. We have a few different options. I'm not going to go into who I'm talking to, who I'm not talking to.

Right now, that's a sensitive situation at the moment. [Manager] Adam Booth is involved in the negotiations, so in a couple of weeks, Adam will have a name, a number and a venue next to it. We have a few different names in mind, but I'll figure out who is best for me to fight at that time.


Do you feel that in any way that the manner in which you're taunting the Klitschkos and conducting yourself is stealing the thunder from the Klitschkos?

I'm not sure if I'm stealing their thunder, but I'm just more or less doing my thing. I'm doing what has come naturally my whole life and my whole career as an amateur, during my cruiser weight campaign. I've always done the same thing. I'm just being me. I may be stealing their thunder in the sense that I'm exciting. I make every fight that I'm involved in an exciting fight.

Normally, their fights are pretty dull fights. But when people come to see me fight, it's not a dull fight. People want to see me fight. They said that John Ruiz was one of the most un-entertaining fighters of this last generation. But I made it an exciting fight. That's what I do.

I make fights that might not be exciting exciting. I get people excited, and they don't get people excited about boxing. Maybe I've stolen their thunder in that sense.


Do you have any true animosity for the Klitschkos, or are your tactics part of some promotional gamesmanship?

I believe that they have some animosity toward me. I've dealt with them from a negotiations standpoint many times. The way that they do business, I've got no respect for them in that sense. The way that they judge a lot of people and put people down and try to lock them down in the contract.

They try to tie them people down with the contract. I think that's what is killing boxing. It's one of the reasons and the ways that they stop fights from being made that need to be made. The terms that they try to apply in the contracts, that's what stops fights like ours from getting made. Plain and simple.

The best fights won't happen until that's looked at. I think that there should be a rule about how many options that they can have.
There should be some sort of law against how many options somebody can have on someone else or a rematch clause. They want one, two, three options.

I respect the Klitschkos as athletes, but not as businessmen at all. I think that time will tell, and, in years to come, people will look back at the opponents that they fought, and the contracts that they made their opponents sign and that that will taint their legacy, no doubt.

You would fight them if your contract situations could be resolved?

Oh, most definitely. But they try to manipulate the media to follow them and make people believe that they're doing the right thing. But then when you're behind closed doors, and if you're in these meetings with them and you see these crazy clauses that they come up with, then you'll say, 'Okay, it's over.'

They're always trying to gain an advantage and to stack the financial situation in their favor. I couldn't stand for that. I've lost respect for both of them in that sense. That's obviously the way that they've done business in the past, and they'll keep doing it and fighting the kind of guys that they're fighting as long as they can get away with it.

But if I ever got into the ring with either of them, I would knock them out. I know what it takes to beat them. If they want their highest payday, they've got to come to me. They're making nothing compared to what they can make by fighting me. They know that, and they don't know how to handle it. They short circuit. I know that it bothers them.


Which of the Klitschkos would you prefer to face first?

Either of them. I know how to beat both of them. But after my career is done, I'm going to let everybody know exactly what they were like. I've stopped doing interviews about the way that they do business. They pull out one little thing about the negotiations and try to turn the media against you.

They only give you one little part and then say, 'This is what happened.' I think that eventually, the fights will happen. And I know that I can beat them. But until then, they can go on thinking that they can beat me.


Do you believe that you can endear yourself to the American audience?

Yes I do. I think that there is a desperation in America for a heavyweight champion. I mean, this is the most important division in boxing. If you take a look at history, the sport of boxing is judged by who is the heavyweight champion at that time. So, since the Klitschkos have been around, which has been a long time, people are just switching off.

They don't really watch the Klitschkos in the United Kingdom. Nobody's interested in them. The television networks won't pay any money for them. Obviously, HBO isn't interested in them. In Germany, where they're based, they have interest. But outside of Europe, and even in England, people aren't interested.

I believe that people see me as someone who can change that. I have an exciting style, and I'm fighting guys who are a lot bigger than myself. I fought and became a cruiser weight champion, so I know and the people know that I've got what it takes to unify titles and have some big fights and be in exciting fights.

I think that's why people are getting excited about me being in the division.


Considering the reception that your countryman, WBA junior welterweight (140 pounds) champ, Amir Khan, received when he fought Paulie Malignaggi, would you entertain fighting in America?

Yes, most definitely. I've always wanted to to that. I had a couple of fights in America earlier in my career, and as I've always said, I want the big fights. It's just a shame that I'm in an era where there aren't any great American heavyweights so that I could have a nemesis in the United States.

I'd love to have a big Riddick Bowe or an Evander Holyfield or a Mike Tyson or someone whom the American people love and fall behind so that I could come over here and pack a major casino like [the Mandalay Bay Hotel.] Unfortunately, there is no American heavyweight that can demand those kinds of numbers or pack these kinds of arenas.

That's just my bad luck, really. So I'm based in England and based in Europe, and I can sell out an arena over there. That's because they've been exposed to me and the American public hasn't. It's just the way that it goes.


So what's next and how soon will we see you back in the ring?

Well, I'm just sitting back at the moment, taking some time out from my last fight, that's exactly what's happening. I haven't really thought about boxing too much. I've been spending time with my family, which I hadn't done for a long time. In a couple of weeks, Adam Booth will have a list of opponents with a number and a venue next to them.

Whichever one that I feel is suitable, I should know, then, which is the best opponent for my career and to defend my world title against. I will choose the right one.



I think that basically means Audley in November, fucking bollocks if you ask me, very very sad not ruling out an Audley fight stright away there don't look good to me.