David Haye has revealed that Dillian Whyte called him out as he was in the process of retirement.
Haye returned to the ring in 2018 to rematch Tony Bellew one year on from being knocked out in the eleventh round of their first fight.
Despite some pomp and hype in the build up, it wasn’t long into the contest that fans realised the former heavyweight champion was nowhere near the fighter he used to be.
Bellew floored Haye twice in the third, with the latter suffering from a similar injury that had plagued him in their first bout. The referee stopped proceedings in the fifth, putting an end to a spicy domestic rivalry and Haye’s career all at once.
On exiting the ring, Haye told IFL TV that he was expecting some words of advice from Dillian Whyte, but instead had a fight offer.
“That was funny. I remember coming out the ring, battered and bruised, really feeling sorry for myself. And I see Dillian. I’ve known Dillian for years and years. I used to spar with him when he was an amateur. He came over, and I thought he was going to come over and go ‘unlucky mate, I think it’s time to quit, call it a day.’ He was like ‘I want to fight you next!'”
“I’m looking behind me thinking ‘who’s behind me?’ He wanted to call me out. Not his best moment. I’m sure he cringes when he thinks about it now. But it was quite funny. It made me smile.”
A name like David Haye on your record was always going to look good, so fair play to Whyte for taking his chance when Haye was a far stretch from his best.
Haye would indeed go on to hang up the gloves, whilst white spent the rest of the year picking up career best wins over Joseph Parker and Derek Chisora.
Still in the depths of his campaign, ‘The Bodysnatcher’ returns to action this weekend against undefeated American, Jermaine Franklin.