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.
