David Haye is keen to spar with the young heavyweight sethesis Tyson Fury ahead of his WBA title clash with the Russian giant Nikolai Valuev in November. Haye will attempt to take the WBA title off 7ft 2in Valuev when they meet in Germany on 7 November.
Haye acknowledges he is stepping into the unknown in just his second fight at heavyweight against a man nearly a foot taller than himself. And he admits working with the unbeaten 21-year old Fury who is 6ft 8in tall could benefit both men, with Fury (8-0) often complaining about a stortage of willing sparring partners.
"If Tyson Fury is available, then yes," said Haye. "I'm around at the moment and if he's got a fight coming up I am more than willing to spar with him. He doesn't have to pay me, that's for sure. If he wants to come down and do some work with me I'd more than treasure it and I'm sure he would also."
Haye's trainer Adam Booth believes his man can adapt and work his way around Valuev's size. "I don't necessarily think Valuev's style is wrong for David," he said. "He's always thrived on taller and bigger opponents and ever since he was young he has always sparred with people heavier than him.
"But we're not under-estimating Valuev. There's an easy, obvious statement to make about Valuev that he's big so he's slow. But he's really not that slow, if you look at the tapes of his left hand. And he's very effective at going 12 rounds.
"Although he's even admitted himself he is still learning to box, he's only got to be a certain percentage of what other fighters have to be because he's got those attributes of his height and his weight to carry him along. So you have to look at what he does best, not what he does worst. We'll prepare David for what Valuev does best and then have the answers for that."
Haye acknowledges he is stepping into the unknown in just his second fight at heavyweight against a man nearly a foot taller than himself. And he admits working with the unbeaten 21-year old Fury who is 6ft 8in tall could benefit both men, with Fury (8-0) often complaining about a stortage of willing sparring partners.
"If Tyson Fury is available, then yes," said Haye. "I'm around at the moment and if he's got a fight coming up I am more than willing to spar with him. He doesn't have to pay me, that's for sure. If he wants to come down and do some work with me I'd more than treasure it and I'm sure he would also."
Haye's trainer Adam Booth believes his man can adapt and work his way around Valuev's size. "I don't necessarily think Valuev's style is wrong for David," he said. "He's always thrived on taller and bigger opponents and ever since he was young he has always sparred with people heavier than him.
"But we're not under-estimating Valuev. There's an easy, obvious statement to make about Valuev that he's big so he's slow. But he's really not that slow, if you look at the tapes of his left hand. And he's very effective at going 12 rounds.
"Although he's even admitted himself he is still learning to box, he's only got to be a certain percentage of what other fighters have to be because he's got those attributes of his height and his weight to carry him along. So you have to look at what he does best, not what he does worst. We'll prepare David for what Valuev does best and then have the answers for that."
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