David Haye: My two big lessons

David Haye has never lacked confidence. But he is all too aware of the lessons that helped him to the top. As he prepared for Saturday night's clash with Monte Barrett (pictured), Haye said he had reason to remember two losses, one professional one amateur, and the lessons taught to him by Carl Thompson and Jim Twite.

The Thompson loss, at Wembley Arena in 2004, came when Haye had punched himself out after a blistering start. Thompson looked on the verge of defeat in round two but, as he had so many times before, Thompson rode the storm and won in the fifth.

"I fought a fight that I hadn't prepared for," Haye said. "My tactics were to take it slowly, but I went out like a 1,500 metre runner blasting out at 100 percent for the first 200 metres - he's not going to be able the finish the race. With the tactics I brought, I didn't deserve to win. If the referee had stopped it in the second round when he was reeling, nobody would have complained, they might have said save him for another day, but I wouldn't have then learnt a lesson. I would have lost sooner or later."

The other big lesson of Haye's career came against Twite in the 1999 ABAs. It was the first time that Haye had been knocked down and he said it helped him when he was knocked down early in his professional career against Lolenga Mock and in his WBC and WBA cruiserweight title win over Jean-Marc Mormeck, when he got off the floor to win.

"What saved me was when I got put down by Jim Twite when I was 18," he said. "As soon as I got put down, I was so embarrassed I jumped straight back up, so to show I wasn't hurt. But I jumped straight up and I went straight back down again.

"Obviously then the ref stops the fight. I was gutted. I thought I just went down and got straight up again. It was only watching the DVD that I dropped back down after getting up. After that it stuck in my mind, when you get put down, stay down for the eight count, you don't get any points for getting up quicker.

"Against Lolenga Mock, I was really unsteady. When I got up, I just tried to kill the clock and wrestled him to the floor. You have to change your natural instincts. If the Jim Twite fight hadn't happened, I would probably have got up straight away against Mock. Against Mormeck, by the time I got back up to my feet I was all right. My legs went and he was still punching, so I thought better go down, I wasn’t going to do what (Enzo) Maccarinelli did and hold the ropes. So I got an eight count and thought 'it's a 10-8 round, kill the clock'."

Comments

[Phill Arrowsmith]

David Haye is a classic example of the benefits that come with losing early on in your career. As he says himself above, he'd never have come through the sterner tests that followed if he'd not learned lessons from his losses. Too many boxers protect their 0's and as a consequence don't take the fights that they will really learn from until it's too late and they get found out - Amir Khan anyone? Haye has never shied away from a fight and that's why he's become so great. I think he's seriously underrated by too many people both in boxing and out. I've been saying for years that he could go down as one of our best ever. We'll get an idea later today if that's still possible. Personally I can't wait.