Heavy work ahead for Haye

Haye: Going up in the world after Saturday night

If that's the best I've got to worry about then I might be heavyweight champion quicker than I think.

David Haye on Klitschko v Ibragimov
Quotes of the week

Also see

• Sky Sports experts
• World champions
• On Sky TV
• Messageboards

David Haye intends to make Enzo Maccarinelli pay for underestimating him before he moves up to become a heavyweight.

The all-British bout will decide who is number one in the cruiserweight division, with both fighters currently holding world belts.

Haye is the WBC and WBA champion after he climbed off the canvas to take the belts from Jean Marc Mormeck last November.

The 27-year-old believes WBO title-holder Maccarinelli has read too much into the fact he was floored by the Frenchman in Paris before rallying to force a seventh-round stoppage.

Tougher fight

"I've trained for a tougher fight than Mormeck but I don't expect it," he said.

"I think they've totally underestimated me. They watched that fight, saw me knocked down and heard me complaining about the weight I've had to lose and thought 'let's get him now'.

"Hopefully Enzo will be standing in front of me throwing punches because that will expose him.

"If he doesn't realise how good I am, he's got a decent team around him so they must know. How much better do I have to be than number one in the world?

"I just feel I'm a better athlete than him. I could play him at any sport - table tennis, football, hockey, whatever - and I'm sure I could beat him at anything."

Win, lose or draw, Saturday's bout against Maccarinelli at the O2 Arena is likely to be Haye's last at his current weight.

Competition

A switch up to become a heavyweight is on the cards for the Londoner, who watched IBF champion Wladimir Klitschko out-pointed rival champion Sultan Ibragimov while training in Miami.

The disappointing performance from both boxers has left Haye in little doubt that he can be successful when he makes the step up.

"Everyone in there was pumped up for it because it was the first heavyweight unification fight since the days of Lennox Lewis," he said.

"But it was one of the worst shows of a boxing match I've ever seen in my life. You had a big guy of 6ft 6in, who was afraid to throw a jab at a little guy.

"If Klitschko had spent as much time trying to punch the guy as he did slapping his hands, he might have knocked him out."

Haye added: "If that's the best I've got to worry about then I might be heavyweight champion quicker than I think."