High-risk Haye ready to show Khan the way
While Amir Khan continues to weigh the pros and cons of turning professional, the Olympic silver medallist could do worse than seek the advice of David Haye.
Three years ago Haye was considered as hot a prospect as Khan is today. The Londoner had become the first Briton to reach a World Amateur Championship Final where he was beaten by Odlanier Solis after the Cuban had taken a count in the first round.
Just as Khan is now being touted as clear favourite to strike lightweight gold at the Beijing Olympics should he remain amateur until 2008, so Haye was looking at a Commonwealth Games championship title simply for turning up in Manchester.
An injury put paid to that when Haye tore an arm muscle in a preliminary fight and was forced to abandon what should have been a glorious farewell to the amateur ranks.
Haye turned professional in a rather more humble fashion, but tomorrow night at Wembley Arena he seeks to win his 11th successive paid fight inside the distance. What will be of particular interest to Khan is the standard of opposition in the opposite corner.
There is an on-going debate about the way British prospects are protected - or, in the case of Audley Harrison, protect themselves - while building up experience and those no-loss records that are so attractive to television paymasters.
Yet 23-year-old Haye is risking all against
Carl Thompson, a hard-hitting veteran southpaw boasting two wins over Chris
Eubank and who last time out won the IBO cruiserweight title with one of the most spectacular knockouts seen in Britain this year, against South Africa's Sebastian Rothmann.
Haye was just seven years old when Thompson made his professional debut in 1988. Since then he has won British, European and WBO championships while amassing 32 wins, 24 inside the distance, from 38 contests.
Yet the challenger is determined to set a precedent for up-andcoming British hopefuls such as Khan.
Haye said: "When a fight comes along that everyone wants to see it is always too late and the result is not what it might have been had that fight taken place four or five years earlier. I've seen how it's done in the United States and I want that to happen here. Over in America guys are protected for a certain time but once they're let off the leash they fight all-comers."
Haye, who one day plans to move up to heavyweight, added: "If I lose against Carl, so what? A fighter's legacy is built on the balance of his career, not one or two results. I'm looking at the big picture."
And as for Khan's big decision? "It's a gamble for him," said Haye. "I don't see any problem with him remaining amateur until the next Olympics when he will still only be 21. But what happened to me at the Commonwealth Games could happen to him. Making the right decision is a roll of the dice."
