Evander Holyfield challenges David Haye to a big pay-day

Published on Wednesday 1 September 2010 18:51

Heavyweight legend Evander Holyfield has challenged WBA champion David Haye to give him a title shot and finally earn himself a big pay-day.

Despite turning 48 next month, American Holyfield remains on the fringes of the heavyweight title picture as he stubbornly fights on. In 2008, he was unfortunate to lose a decision to then-WBA champion Nikolai Valuev, whom Haye subsequently beat last year.

Holyfield defeated fellow veteran Frans Botha in April to pick up the meaningless WBF belt and is next out against Sherman Williams in November. The two-weight world champion believes he can win a portion of the world heavyweight title for the fifth time and has targeted either Londoner Haye or one of the Klitschko brothers, with Vitali the WBC champion and Wladimir the IBF/WBO holder.

Holyfield said: "I'm looking at both the Klitschko brothers and David Haye. I want to fight the people with the titles. I'm fighting this Williams guy because I need to stay active.

"I just can't wait to get to the guys with these three belts. So, whenever they are ready...the only thing that attracts them is that if they want a big pay-day, they have got to fight somebody that the people know.

"I'm still the most popular heavyweight that is fighting. It's obvious that if they felt I was an easy fight, they would go ahead and fight me. But they realise they don't want to get duked by the old man. But if they want to make money, I'm the guy they need to fight."

Holyfield added: "My people have talked with the older Klitschko brother (Vitali] and his manager but right now everybody's busy with fights.

"I've been doing this a long time, 38 years. I'm good at what I do. I realised each shot is not going to take anything away from me, that's the only reason I did it."

As for his motivation, Holyfield - who dreams of breaking George Foreman's record as the oldest world heavyweight champion - insists there remains plenty of incentive.

"With anything in life you lose something but you gain something," he said. "The most important thing is that you gain more than you lose.

"As for hunger, I don't do it for the reason I did it when I was a kid. I grew up poor and they told me I wasn't going to be anything, which was the fire in my belly because every time I fought somebody it was to prove them wrong.

"Now I don't have that, after everything I've accomplished. People say 'you're too old'. But what's the point of living if you can't set goals? It's not how you start, it's how you end.

"That goal I've set, I've got to keep pushing for it until I get it and hopefully before I hit 50 I'll do that."