World champion Haye on mission to unify world heavyweight title belts

LONDON - World heavyweight champion David Haye has admitted that he is on a “mission to unify” the four different heavyweight title belts before he hangs up his gloves in two years’ time.

Haye defends his WBA version of the heavyweight championship against former champion John Ruiz at the Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester on April 3 and then he wants to take on the other champions.

“I want two more hard years in the boxing business to bring all the belts together and give the fight fans a champion they can recognize. I turned pro to win the world heavyweight title and that is what I’ve done - now I’m on a mission to unify,” The Mirror quoted Haye, as saying.

“The heavyweight title has been held by some great fighters in the last 30 years, but it seems there is always more than one fighter claiming to be the champion. Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield all had their time as the number one, but it has been a mess for about 10 years,” he added.

Haye believes that his fight against Ruiz, which was agreed before he toppled Valuev, will be harder than some insiders are predicting.

“Ruiz is an old-school tough guy and in 12 world heavyweight title fights he has never been stopped. My aim is to ruin his record and take him out in spectacular style to entertain the thousands of fans inside the men,” Haye said.

“I’m not taking the fight lightly because I know how hard Ruiz is, but this will be a celebration and a homecoming to thank the fans for backing me against the Beast,” he added.

World champions Carl Froch and Amir Khan will defend their titles and Ricky Hatton returns, possibly at the City of Manchester stadium.

Haye said: “This is a great time for British boxing and I’ll make everybody proud and kickoff the good times with a stunning knockout.” (ANI)