DAVID HAYE’S exclusive fight diaries have been a feature of 2012. In this, the Londoner’s last entry of the year, the former world heavyweight champion reveals he will be king of the ring again in 2013 — or retired.
AS a New Year approaches, I’m left wondering whether I’ll ever wear a pair of boxing gloves again. My last fight was a fifth-round knockout of Dereck Chisora in July but a big part of me hopes that won’t be my last ever ring outing.
Yes, I’ve achieved enough to walk away content and happy were that to be the case. But, at 32 and still in my athletic prime, I can’t help but feel there is unfinished business in the heavyweight division.
It’s no great secret that I want to knock out Vitali Klitschko in 2013. The contract for the fight has been agreed and is there ready to sign. Were it simply up to me, I’d be training to fight right now. Instead, I’m away from the gym and left to play the waiting game.
Nobody seems to know if Vitali wants to set foot again in the ring, let alone face somebody as dangerous as me. What I do know is that by this time next year I will either be a retired former world heavyweight champ or the new world heavyweight champ.
The prospect of retirement doesn’t scare me. I’ve always planned on retiring at a young age, with my faculties intact. Also, unlike some of my peers, I have plenty to get on with away from boxing.
My long-term goal is to become an actor but, in the meantime, I’m looking at lots of ways to stay busy and keep my mind active. I think that is important for any boxer or former boxer no longer training or competing. Just this month I put the finishing touches to a fitness DVD, which reached No1 on the Amazon pre-sales chart, and also an iPhone game, which did similar in the Apple gaming charts.
But the real game is in the ring and by this time next year I want to be recognised as the undisputed number one in the heavyweight division.
David Haye’s iPhone ‘Jungle Rumble’ is available from the Apple store for £0.69
