By James Slater – Though WBA heavyweight titlist David Haye could very easily have chosen to not even respond to Audley Harrison’s recent claim that he was knocked down in sparring by Tony “The Tiger” Thompson, “The Hayemaker” has fired back at his challenger’s claims.
Talking to Sky Sports, Haye said the rumour Harrison started, that says he was decked by the U.S southpaw whilst sparring, is utterly untrue..
“I’m still wracking my brain to come up with a time when Tony Thompson dropped me,” Haye said. “Maybe Thompson hit me so hard that I’ve actually forgotten! For the record, no, Thompson did not drop me or even come close to hurting me in sparring. In order to drop someone, you first need to be able to land a punch on them.
“I couldn’t be happier with the way sparring has gone ahead of this fight. The rumour is completely false and Audley’s simply using it as a ploy to build up his own fragile self-confidence. If he needs to hang onto a crazy rumour like that to see him through the final days of preparation then so be it. My confidence is grounded in reality.”
And, going by what Thompson himself had to say yesterday, Haye is telling the truth. Not once did “The Tiger” attempt to claim he scored a knockdown over Haye, even though he quite easily could have done. Before most big fights we hear stories of how one champion or another got dropped by a sparring partner. Most of the time the story is untrue, and made up simply to help hype the bout.
Instead, Thompson was full of praise for Haye’s work, saying he will easily beat “A-Force” on Nov. 13th.
Harrison continues to hold onto the belief that Haye’s vulnerable chin WILL let him down come fight night, though. Convinced he will detonate a big left hand on the WBA champ’s jaw, the 2000 Olympic gold medallist does sound as confident as he’s ever sounded.
Harrison hasn’t been doing too badly in his own sparring, by the way, with Sky reporting that Audley has been offering his sparring partners the chance to earn $500 by putting him on the floor. According to the 39-year-old, no-one has managed to do it so far. But will Harrison manage to remain upright in the actual fight a week on Saturday!?