Bermondsey heavyweight David Haye has said he will be back in the ring soon after a quickfire one round win in his comeback fight last Saturday.
The 35-year-old took just over two minutes to dispatch WBA top ten ranked fighter Mark de Mori at the weekend, and he told a packed crowd after the bout he would be back in the ring soon.
The ex-world heavyweight champion said: “I want to be [fighting] regular and get back in the ring as soon as possible. I want to keep testing myself and work my way up the world rankings to get a title fight.”
The Southwark man typically fought once or twice a year before a three year sabbatical from the ring ended at the weekend, and although he was hardly tested against his Aussie opponent Haye looks a different fighter.
He is bigger, seventeen pounds heavier than his last outing in July 2012, and more considered, at least on his latest limited showing, but he can still bang hard as viewers on Freeview channel Dave could see for themselves. Haye also claims his shoulder is better than ever after extensive reconstructive surgery and de Mori will certainly vouch that it is fine after an overhead right hand knocked him clean out. Haye, who was also a world champion in the cruiserweight division, added:
“It’s been a tough tough road but finally I am back. “I feel I am better than I have ever been and punching harder than ever. “De Mori was a tough guy but as soon as the power was there I felt cool and calm in the ring. Nobody on the planet could take those punches.”
The heavyweight scene is once again rather fragmented following Tyson Fury’s shock win against Wladimir Klitschko last November, when the Manchester man secured four versions of the world crown. Fury still holds WBA, WBO & IBO belts but yank Charles Martin is now IBF champion, thanks to a controversial victory last Saturday against Vyacheslav Glazkov, after the Brit was stripped of that belt.
Another American Deontay Wilder is WBC champion and Fury is eyeing him up should he beat Klitschko in a rematch later this year. Paths are there for Haye to get a heavyweight crown back at least but unification could be a while away if Fury holds good to his threat never to box the Bermondsey man.