BY James Simons
Former world heavyweight champion, David Haye has slammed plans by the Olympic body to include professional boxers in the Olympic game a spart of an innovative scheme. The 35-year-old big puncher dubbed the proposals to be “crazy” , highlighting the potential risks of serious injury to amateurs in addition to stunting the development of amateurs.
Speaking at the Sports Pro Live conference in Wembley, the former WBA champion said: “You get these young kids who are training their whole life to go to the Olympics. To go there and not fight someone else like them, but fight someone who has might won an Olympics (medal) before, been a world champion and is just coming back to fight some kids, I think is insane.
“I think you’re going to get some young kids hurt and you’re definitely going to stunt the growth of these young kids. Some kids may be able to handle it, but a lot of them won’t. How would you feel if your 17-year-old son was playing on a rugby team and all of a sudden he was playing Harlequins? The kid would get absolutely mullered, completely smashed to bits. Then they would think: ‘Rugby’s not for me.’ They’ll never become a professional because they’ve been so badly injured by these big, strong guys.
“Or a college American football team playing a professional NFL team – it’s just not fair. One is men, one is kids. It just makes zero sense.”
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Haye expressed his view that the new plan is purely financially motivated, and discouraged professionals from presenting themselves for the new addition to the olympic games.
Berating the plan, he described it as cheating. “To go back, it just seems like a cheat. All it’s going to take is one 17-year-old kid from Sweden fighting an American 30-year-old current world champion, puts the poor kid into a coma and then everyone will go: ‘Why did you allow that to happen?’
“Obviously it is a contact sport so why would you allow that 17-year-old boy to fight this 30-year-old man who has already won the Olympics 10 years ago? What’s the point?
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Haye who recently returned to the sport has been vocal on issues relating to the sport. He began a petition for Mohammed Ali to be Knighted for his greatness in and out of the ring- a petition that eventually saw political figures including the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson join the call to honour the great Ali.
The explosive heavyweight returned to the ring last January after a three year absence caused by injury to his shoulder, to produce a spectacular one round demolition of Marl de Mori. He has since called out Britain’s heavyweight hitman, Anthony Joshua, who is scheduled to challenge Charles Martin for the IBF title on April 9 next month.
Haye himself is due to fight next on May 2 against an unnamed opponent.
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