Hay days are over

WINNING THIS FIGHT NOT ENOUGH ...IT’ S LOOK GOOD OR GOODNIGHT!

DAVID HAYE admits that he might retire after fighting Tony Bellew on Saturday – even if he WINS.

The Hayemaker (right) will box on only if he feels he has put in a performance which shows he can still mix it with Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, the kings of the heavyweight division.

Haye said: “Fighting Joshua or Wilder solely depends on how I look against Bellew. It’s ‘look good or goodnight’, 100 per cent.

“A win on its own is only good enough for me to feel I haven’t ended my career on a loss.

“That’s why the defeat by Wladimir Klitschko didn’t sit well with me – I hate losing. I hate losing at anything, but to lose such a high-profile fight when you have given it all the big chat...

Haunted

“That defeat haunted me for a while and, although I’ve forgotten about it now, I couldn’t retire with that as my last effort. You get remembered for your last appearance and I want it to be a glorious night, not one of my worst nights.”

Haye lost his first clash with Bellew in March last year, suffering an Achilles injury during the bout before the Liverpudlian ended it in round 11.

But the Londoner reckons he is as fit as he has been for some time now, despite suffering shoulder and bicep injuries.

Haye added: “There are no worries because I’ve tested everything in the gym and during sparring. Everything is fine. It’s eerily nice. It’s going very well and I just need to keep it this way.

“It’s like a car having a major service – new tyres, new clutch, oil change, it’s had everything revamped.

“It’s started up, ticks over well, it’s looking good in practice, and you’ve taken it round the block but you haven’t put it on the track yet.

“You think it should do well, it should get the chequered flag, and it should be all right, though I thought the first fight was going to be like that and I was wrong there.

“But, given the way that my training has gone, it should be a very successful night.”

Haye believes his hand-eye coordination is also much better for this fight.

He said: “Without a doubt that was missing in the first fight with Bellew. It’s a timing thing you get from sparring as well.

“I’ve been doing drills where we are touching cones and another is throwing tennis balls at a little trampoline – they ping off in different directions and you grab them.

“I was terrible at first and I couldn’t believe how uncoordinated I was but by doing it every day I have sharpened up.

“I’ve been juggling too – but I can only do three balls, so there’s not a life in the circus after boxing!”