Haye fine at 200lbs

Champion plays down weight issue

Last updated: 5th March 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Haye fine at 200lbs

Haye: No problems

8/13 Haye 6/5 Maccarinelli 16/1 Draw
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David Haye insists making the weight for Saturday's cruiserweight unification clash with Enzo Maccarinelli will not be a problem.

While insisting this will be his last fight at the 200lb limit before stepping into the heavyweight division, the 27-year-old has revealed that getting the weight off has been easier than ever.

Haye cited weight problems as the reason for his flash knockdown in his last fight against Jean-Marc Mormeck, before the Londoner recovered to stop the Frenchman and take the WBC and WBA titles.

But the Bermondsey bomber, who has claimed 19 of his 20 victories inside the distance, says he is in even better shape to take on the WBO champion at the O2 Arena this weekend.

"It's been no problem. I was coming down from a higher weight last time but I've now been training full-time since June.

"First, the Mormeck fight was postponed for six weeks so I got more time to prepare," he said. "After beating him I was back in the gym two weeks later because I had a feeling that this fight with Maccarinelli might come off.

"But I'm sure it's only happening because they thought I would be a spent force at 200lbs.

"If they'd known the weight issue wasn't as big as they thought it was, this fight wouldn't be happening."

Haye is looking forward to fighting on home turf for the first time in his career after trawling the leisure centre circuit for most of his career.

"It's the first time I've fought in south London in the whole of my career so it's a sort of homecoming," he said.

"It doesn't actually make a difference once I step through the ropes but it's just nice that all the people who have followed me round the country and on television can come and see me fight just down the road," added Haye.

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