London: Beaten British heavyweight David Haye hinted on Sunday that he could be prepared to put retirement on hold in the unlikely event of Vladimir Klitschko offering him a swift title rematch.
The Londoner has said he would call it a day on his 31st birthday on Oct. 13 and told reporters after losing his WBA title to the Ukrainian in Hamburg on Saturday that he would make a decision in the next few weeks.
Haye blamed his unanimous points defeat on a broken toe, an excuse that led Klitschko to dismiss him as a `sore loser`, and questioned whether the Ukrainian would want to fight him when fully fit.
"Will he want to give me a rematch when I`m 100 percent fit? I don`t know," he told a news channel before flying back to Britain.
"If not, then I don`t know. I really don`t know. I`d love him to give me a rematch.”"He said he can knock me out and I`d love him to give it a go," he added. "If he couldn`t knock me out on one leg, pretty much, then how about when I`m fit?”
"Great fighters in the past have lost their titles and won them back," said Haye. "I`d love the opportunity but if I get it is a whole different matter. It`s up to Vladimir and his people.”
"Hopefully he`ll look at how much they get paid and realise that if they want another big superfight they`ve got to (come) back to me."
Klitschko, who now holds the WBA, IBO, IBF and WBO belts while his older brother Vitali is the WBC champion, indicated a rematch was not top of his agenda and questioned how much Haye really wanted it.
"You know what? I am in the driving seat right now," the Ukrainian said. "And I will make the decision what I am going to do next, with David Haye or without David Haye, and it`s a pretty good feeling.
"I am a pretty aware of my choices and what the next steps are going to be...David Haye is out of the window, he`s out of the picture. He`s out."
Bureau Report
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