By James Slater – Retired heavyweight great Lennox Lewis, the last man to defeat Vitali Klitschko, has attempted to give some more advice to fellow Londoner David Haye. Speaking at The Laureus Awards and quoted by The Guardian, all-time great Lewis said Haye should definitely return to the ring but that he should do what a number of fans have said all along: fight a contender or two BEFORE challenging either Klitschko brother.
“David should come out of retirement,” Lennox said Monday night. “He should come back, but he should not think about the Klitschkos right now. He should beat a couple of other people, so people actually think, ‘yeah, you know, he can do it this time, he can beat a Klitschko.’ There is a lot of money for him on the table which is important for any fighter. If he beat a couple of other fighters first, he could build himself back up.”
Sound advice indeed from Lewis, but will “The Hayemaker” take it? Never before has Haye seemed interested in steadily working his way towards a heavyweight title shot by way of going through a couple of top-ranked contenders (remember, Haye had just two fights against heavyweights, neither of which were top-10 material, before he got a shot at the WBA heavyweight belt). Does the 31-year-old have the hunger needed to carry out Lewis’ plan? Most fans doubt it unfortunately. And I say unfortunately because Haye against the likes of, say, Chris Arreola, Tomasz Adamek, Eddie Chambers or fellow Brits Dereck Chisora and Tyson Fury would be hugely appealing match-ups.
Speaking of “Del Boy” Chisora, 46-year-old Lewis says he gives the challenger a good chance in his upcoming fight with reigning WBC king Vitali; the last man he beat before calling it quits on his masterful career.
“Vitali is very good but Chisora has a chance,” he stated. “He is a heavyweight. All it takes is one punch on the chin to win. I always say, if you walk into the ring you have to get wet. If he [Vitali] is in the fight and he gets punched, there is a chance he might get hurt or knocked out. It will be an interesting fight.”
It would be a massive shock if Vitali – who stood up to some blockbuster right hands and uppercuts from Lewis – went down from a Chisora punch, but anything can happen at heavyweight, as Lewis makes clear. And when was the last time “Dr. Iron Fist’s” rock chin was tested? Can Chisora test it?
Lewis closed by saying the heavyweight division is “in a poor state now,” and that “we are waiting for that next great superstar to really take up the pace of boxing and put it right back up there.”
But who is this fighter, and where is he?