David Haye Interview in the Guardian
Posted: 18 Oct 2009, 09:28
Will you be nervous when you fight Valuev?
No, it messes with your breathing. You can't fight if you're nervous.
What was your initial physical impression of him?
In my mind he was always a giant. Like a giant out of a kids' movie. But I wasn't going to get into a situation where he was going to surprise me with his size. That would be pretty silly. So I imagined him as being at least twice as huge as he was. Ten-foot tall and all that. So when I finally met him I thought, "Nah, he ain't that big."
What aura did he give off?
Steel. Very cold. Nothing fazed him. He didn't crack a smile once, he was straight business. He didn't say anything, he doesn't speak much English and my Russian isn't all it should be. He tried to crush my hand, though. I thought, "OK, it's not a hand-crushing competition we've having here. Your hands are twice the size of mine and you could probably crush them easily if you wanted to but then I'd have to pull out with a broken hand." But I could see that he views me as some little guy that he can just swat away. An inconvenience. And physically, he feels superior to me.
Were you frightened of him?
No, I wasn't. I've never been frightened of anyone. He's an obstacle to me. A big obstacle, I'll grant you, but no more than that.
How do you train to fight such a big man?
Punching upwards is a lot harder than down. My whole career I've punched down a little. When I was cruiserweight champion I was always the tall guy. Now, my arms are having to do something they've never done before. It's way up above my head, which is tough. You're using new muscles that have never come into play before. It burns, very uncomfortable around the front of the shoulders. I'm having to get them massaged out constantly.
And how will you deal with the sheer weight imbalance?
It's not something you can really train for. I'll have to deal with that on the night – much in the same way as he can't train to fight someone with my speed. He won't have come across another fighter as fast as me. That's what makes this fight so intriguing to people. Is David going to topple Goliath, or is David going to get squashed by Goliath?
You're going to be taking a lot of blows to the top of your head.
I know. There will be a lot of angles I'm just not used to. That's always a shock to the system. I've got to prepare myself for the more unusual shots.
Will you be working his body?
I'll be working anything I can reach! If his head is too far away then I'll be hitting his body with all my might.
Hitting below the belt could be a problem. You could accidentally head-butt this man in the testicles.
Precisely! If I land a body shot where I hit on a normal-sized opponent, I'll be hitting Valuev straight up the cobblers. And he's not going to be happy about that. At. All. So I've got to adjust that. I've got adjust everything for this fight.
For an outsized gentleman, he doesn't lack stamina.
Not at all. He's won a lot of his fights on points. He's done 12 rounds on numerous occasions at various paces. Which suggests he isn't a one-punch knock out merchant. But then anyone that big will have a lot of weight behind a single shot to do some damage. Particularly someone like myself coming up from a much lower weight. No, his stamina is one of his strong points.
Do you realise that, with what you're giving away in height and weight, it's the equivalent of you fighting Mark Owen from Take That?
Exactly! That would be an interesting one. But then you mustn't underestimate what Owen is capable of in the ring. The big difference between me and Valuev is that I've got the superior technical ability. Superior skill set. A better boxing pedigree. And speed. Speed is the key to this fight. If all those factors come together on the night, I feel I can beat this guy.
Will this be the hardest fight of your career?
Without a doubt. I'm going to have to do things I've never even thought about before. My work rate will have to be phenomenal. But I've over-compensated in every area of my training. If you think you might have to throw 100 punches, you train to throw 200. It'll send shock waves around the world what I'm looking at doing to this big guy.
Well, I'm fornicating you tonight," croons Haye, singing along to R Kelly's Use to Me Spending, the now-wash-your-hands R&B jam oozing from the studio speakers.
This may well be true but tonight will be Haye's last chance to engage in such salty pursuits prior to his big night in Nuremberg. (A swift finger-count reveals the fight to be six weeks away to the day.)
"I abstain from any kind of release for six weeks before a fight, no self-pleasure, nothing," says Haye, acknowledging that he may have a busy evening ahead. "Even in my dreams, I'll be about to have sex with a beautiful girl and I'll say, 'Sorry darling, I'm fighting in a few weeks.' That's control, bro, when you're turning down a hot chick in your subconscious."
He offers a thought-provoking theory on the recent claims by India's cricket coach Gary Kirsten that if sportsmen were to have regular sex before they competed then the body would produce more testosterone and therefore improve their performance in the arena.
"There's good proven science behind abstinence in boxing," Haye expounds impressively. "I can see how in cricket, the slow release of testosterone might help your game because there are only occasional bursts of aggression. But boxing is a testosterone explosion. It's intense and you need everything you have. If you were to unload and lose all those minerals and zinc, and all that good stuff, then it's not going to help you fight. That's your chi. Get rid of that and you can feel your soul leaving you. Think about it, as soon as you release, your instinct is to go to sleep. You want a sandwich and a nice kip. And you don't want to feel like that in a boxing ring."
Have you always embraced a challenge?
Big time.
And you've always enjoyed a good tear-up?
Always. Can't resist a scrap. I'm the sort of guy who only watches ice hockey for the fighting.
When did you last have a street fight?
Once I started boxing seriously, probably. Maybe 11 years old. When people knew you did boxing, they'd either back off or they knew they'd have to go and get a brick.
Do you walk away from confrontation on the street now?
As you get older you do. When you're younger you feel ashamed to walk away but I've walked away from plenty of fights as time has gone on. Also, what's the point of me punching someone in the skull with no bandages or gloves on? I'm only going to break my hand and be out for months. Walk away, go to the gym and have a good workout. That's the answer.
Are you ever challenged to a fight as you go about your daily business?
What, in Sainsbury's? All the time. Old grandmas having a pop. No, very rarely. Maybe if someone's really drunk in a bar. They come up to you going, "I'll take you on." 'Course you will, mate. Let me buy you a drink.
Is it true that when you are putting on a fight – under the Hayemaker promotional brand banner – you personally audition the ring-card girls?
I do, but only because earlier in my career, the promoters would organise these girls and you'd be sitting on your stool between rounds and you'd look up and see a complete and utter minger walking around the ring. It was actually a distraction. You'd be thinking, "Why is she in the ring and what possible good can come from her being there?" So now, I make sure that all my ring-card girls are up to scratch. It might sound like that's being a control freak but people are paying hard-earned money to watch it so you want to make it as entertaining and exciting as possible.
Will you beat Valuev?
If all my strengths come together on the night I feel I can. It won't be easy but I will win.
What will be your last meal before the fight?
Something lean and fresh and raw. No chips, unfortunately. Saturated fats are out.
And if the so-called "Beast From the East" feasts upon your carcass, what's the contingency plan?
There isn't one. I've put it all on the line for this fight. I haven't thought about losing – it isn't an option. You don't want a silver medal in boxing. Coming second is not what you want. Trust me.
No, it messes with your breathing. You can't fight if you're nervous.
What was your initial physical impression of him?
In my mind he was always a giant. Like a giant out of a kids' movie. But I wasn't going to get into a situation where he was going to surprise me with his size. That would be pretty silly. So I imagined him as being at least twice as huge as he was. Ten-foot tall and all that. So when I finally met him I thought, "Nah, he ain't that big."
What aura did he give off?
Steel. Very cold. Nothing fazed him. He didn't crack a smile once, he was straight business. He didn't say anything, he doesn't speak much English and my Russian isn't all it should be. He tried to crush my hand, though. I thought, "OK, it's not a hand-crushing competition we've having here. Your hands are twice the size of mine and you could probably crush them easily if you wanted to but then I'd have to pull out with a broken hand." But I could see that he views me as some little guy that he can just swat away. An inconvenience. And physically, he feels superior to me.
Were you frightened of him?
No, I wasn't. I've never been frightened of anyone. He's an obstacle to me. A big obstacle, I'll grant you, but no more than that.
How do you train to fight such a big man?
Punching upwards is a lot harder than down. My whole career I've punched down a little. When I was cruiserweight champion I was always the tall guy. Now, my arms are having to do something they've never done before. It's way up above my head, which is tough. You're using new muscles that have never come into play before. It burns, very uncomfortable around the front of the shoulders. I'm having to get them massaged out constantly.
And how will you deal with the sheer weight imbalance?
It's not something you can really train for. I'll have to deal with that on the night – much in the same way as he can't train to fight someone with my speed. He won't have come across another fighter as fast as me. That's what makes this fight so intriguing to people. Is David going to topple Goliath, or is David going to get squashed by Goliath?
You're going to be taking a lot of blows to the top of your head.
I know. There will be a lot of angles I'm just not used to. That's always a shock to the system. I've got to prepare myself for the more unusual shots.
Will you be working his body?
I'll be working anything I can reach! If his head is too far away then I'll be hitting his body with all my might.
Hitting below the belt could be a problem. You could accidentally head-butt this man in the testicles.
Precisely! If I land a body shot where I hit on a normal-sized opponent, I'll be hitting Valuev straight up the cobblers. And he's not going to be happy about that. At. All. So I've got to adjust that. I've got adjust everything for this fight.
For an outsized gentleman, he doesn't lack stamina.
Not at all. He's won a lot of his fights on points. He's done 12 rounds on numerous occasions at various paces. Which suggests he isn't a one-punch knock out merchant. But then anyone that big will have a lot of weight behind a single shot to do some damage. Particularly someone like myself coming up from a much lower weight. No, his stamina is one of his strong points.
Do you realise that, with what you're giving away in height and weight, it's the equivalent of you fighting Mark Owen from Take That?
Exactly! That would be an interesting one. But then you mustn't underestimate what Owen is capable of in the ring. The big difference between me and Valuev is that I've got the superior technical ability. Superior skill set. A better boxing pedigree. And speed. Speed is the key to this fight. If all those factors come together on the night, I feel I can beat this guy.
Will this be the hardest fight of your career?
Without a doubt. I'm going to have to do things I've never even thought about before. My work rate will have to be phenomenal. But I've over-compensated in every area of my training. If you think you might have to throw 100 punches, you train to throw 200. It'll send shock waves around the world what I'm looking at doing to this big guy.
Well, I'm fornicating you tonight," croons Haye, singing along to R Kelly's Use to Me Spending, the now-wash-your-hands R&B jam oozing from the studio speakers.
This may well be true but tonight will be Haye's last chance to engage in such salty pursuits prior to his big night in Nuremberg. (A swift finger-count reveals the fight to be six weeks away to the day.)
"I abstain from any kind of release for six weeks before a fight, no self-pleasure, nothing," says Haye, acknowledging that he may have a busy evening ahead. "Even in my dreams, I'll be about to have sex with a beautiful girl and I'll say, 'Sorry darling, I'm fighting in a few weeks.' That's control, bro, when you're turning down a hot chick in your subconscious."
He offers a thought-provoking theory on the recent claims by India's cricket coach Gary Kirsten that if sportsmen were to have regular sex before they competed then the body would produce more testosterone and therefore improve their performance in the arena.
"There's good proven science behind abstinence in boxing," Haye expounds impressively. "I can see how in cricket, the slow release of testosterone might help your game because there are only occasional bursts of aggression. But boxing is a testosterone explosion. It's intense and you need everything you have. If you were to unload and lose all those minerals and zinc, and all that good stuff, then it's not going to help you fight. That's your chi. Get rid of that and you can feel your soul leaving you. Think about it, as soon as you release, your instinct is to go to sleep. You want a sandwich and a nice kip. And you don't want to feel like that in a boxing ring."
Have you always embraced a challenge?
Big time.
And you've always enjoyed a good tear-up?
Always. Can't resist a scrap. I'm the sort of guy who only watches ice hockey for the fighting.
When did you last have a street fight?
Once I started boxing seriously, probably. Maybe 11 years old. When people knew you did boxing, they'd either back off or they knew they'd have to go and get a brick.
Do you walk away from confrontation on the street now?
As you get older you do. When you're younger you feel ashamed to walk away but I've walked away from plenty of fights as time has gone on. Also, what's the point of me punching someone in the skull with no bandages or gloves on? I'm only going to break my hand and be out for months. Walk away, go to the gym and have a good workout. That's the answer.
Are you ever challenged to a fight as you go about your daily business?
What, in Sainsbury's? All the time. Old grandmas having a pop. No, very rarely. Maybe if someone's really drunk in a bar. They come up to you going, "I'll take you on." 'Course you will, mate. Let me buy you a drink.
Is it true that when you are putting on a fight – under the Hayemaker promotional brand banner – you personally audition the ring-card girls?
I do, but only because earlier in my career, the promoters would organise these girls and you'd be sitting on your stool between rounds and you'd look up and see a complete and utter minger walking around the ring. It was actually a distraction. You'd be thinking, "Why is she in the ring and what possible good can come from her being there?" So now, I make sure that all my ring-card girls are up to scratch. It might sound like that's being a control freak but people are paying hard-earned money to watch it so you want to make it as entertaining and exciting as possible.
Will you beat Valuev?
If all my strengths come together on the night I feel I can. It won't be easy but I will win.
What will be your last meal before the fight?
Something lean and fresh and raw. No chips, unfortunately. Saturated fats are out.
And if the so-called "Beast From the East" feasts upon your carcass, what's the contingency plan?
There isn't one. I've put it all on the line for this fight. I haven't thought about losing – it isn't an option. You don't want a silver medal in boxing. Coming second is not what you want. Trust me.
