David Haye and Nikolai Valuev stand head to head, almost, during a press conference. Picture courtesy of SE / Photo Wende.
WBA Heavyweight Champion Nikolai Valuev has promised “something special” for David Haye when they clash in the ring on Saturday night.
The Russian Giant cannot wait to let his fists do the talking after the challenger has wasted no chance to hurl insults at the biggest and tallest champion of all time.
“His comments have been very motivating,” Valuev said. “But let’s see what Haye has to offer inside the ring. I don’t think he will be able to follow it up. But I will not under-estimate him.”
Haye was brimming with confidence when he spoke in front of a packed press conference today.
"He hasn't fought anyone of my calibre; he's never fought anyone in their prime or someone so fired up,” said the Londoner.
“I'm not one of these guys he's used to fighting. I'm not over-the-hill, I'm not tainted, I'm not past my sell-by-date. I am fresh, I am ready.”
And he added: "Training has gone great and I am going to make him look silly on Saturday night. I am going to embarrass him, knock him out.
“He's never fought anyone as fast or who punches as hard as me, or as accurate. I know he feels I'm a little mouthy man from England, but he's going to be in for a rude awakening when that bell goes."
Asked what he makes of Haye’s prediction to knock him out, Valuev replied: “He can say what he wants. I have heard that from many opponents before. It is not going to happen. I will win.”
Manager Wilfried Sauerland was also surprised about the challenger’s confidence.
“I don´t know where he takes it from,” he said. “He is untested at heavyweight and got knocked down a lot of times in his career. Now he is facing a proven champion with 50 victories, so I really wonder why he is so optimistic.”
Last updated: 04 November 2009, 16:10
The links provided allow you to bookmark this page into your favourite social media website. For users with JavaScript disabled copy and paste the URL from the address bar into your chosen social bookmarking site.