I was really pleased to be ringside to watch Hughie Fury win the British heavyweight title against Sam Sexton on Saturday because I’m very close with Peter [Fury] and Hughie. Obviously, they were very disappointed with the controversial decision against Joseph Parker; that wasn’t the most exciting fight and if Hughie had used his right hand more then he could have beaten Parker. Parker couldn’t cope with Hughie’s movement and if he’d just had a bit more devilment he’d already be a world champion. But he will have learned so much from that experience because you don’t know you’re world class until you actually perform at that level. He’ll have been a better fighter overnight after the Parker fight because he’ll have realised he was actually at that level.
He just toyed with Sexton and took him out very efficiently. I did think he could stop Sexton, I thought maybe any time after the sixth round, but to stop him the way he did I thought was very impressive. He made a big statement, not just domestically but internationally. He’s just 23 years old and he’s improving all the time. He’s also such a humble lad, is so disciplined and he lives the life. I’ve got plenty of time for Hughie. He might not be as exciting as Mike Tyson but he has world class ability, no doubt about it.
Talking about heavyweights, I was a bit surprised that David Haye got beat by Tony Bellew again because I thought there was still something left. Even Bellew admitted afterwards he wasn’t in the same league as the Haye of a few years ago. A David Haye who’s even 60-80% of his top ability should beat Bellew, who’s really a blown-up light-heavyweight. But take nothing away from Tony, he did a number on Haye. For me, Haye has been cheating the public and he’s had a payday. He should retire now because anything he does from now on is just hype. If he does want to get in a ring again then it should be for the WWE, or something, but not a boxing ring.
David’s really just been a celebrity fighter for the last few years and his sell-by date went a couple of years ago. His body can’t cope with it. We’ve talked about Hughie Fury who absolutely lives the life, whereas Haye wants to party and be a celebrity, and this game will find you out if that’s the life you’ve been leading. David is a fantastic specimen but you can never tell a book by its cover. There was nothing in the tank, nothing under the bonnet.
I promoted David for half a dozen fights on the BBC, and we won the European title with him at cruiserweight, and then him and Adam Booth wanted to do something on their own, and that’s what they did. David obviously went on to win the cruiserweight world title against Jean Marc Mormeck, which was a fantastic achievement and he showed plenty of bottle in that fight, which is something he does have. He still has heavy hands, but his legs and mobility have gone. When we had him though it was exciting times; not the easiest people to do business with, but he was an exciting TV fighter.
