Mark De Mori (30-1-2) is the man challenged with the task of derailing David Haye's successful return to the ring on January 16. On the back of Tyson Fury's world heavyweight title victory over long-reigning champion Wladimir Klitschko, the talk of Haye's inevitable ring return has been hot on the lips of boxing fans, media, and boxers alike around the world. Many are already speculating about several lucrative showdowns for Haye in the future. The likes of Fury, Klitschko, and Anthony Joshua all await the former heavyweight champion, provided that he gets past tough Australian De Mori, who believes Haye is currently looking past him. The once-beaten heavyweights hopes that could even the playing field come fight night and insists he wants the fight more than the outspoken Brit.
"I'm the guy with less injuries, fighting more regularly, and the big point here is I want the fight more than him. Haye is already looking past me; just another fight to him, like, 'Oh yeah, I will come back, win, then challenge Tyson Fury and Joshua,' so for him, he is looking past me. For me, this is the biggest fight of my life. I want it more than him. That really evens up the score board," stated De Mori during a recent conversation with FightHype.com.
As he suggested, De Mori is well aware of the chance people give him in this fight, but he believes his desire to showcase his talents in a fight of this magnitude is something he has been relishing all of his career. He knows and appreciates the qualities Haye has, but come fight night, he is prepared to leave it all in the ring for one last shot at glory.
"This could be my last fight in my career. All I want out of boxing now is to be able to look in the mirror and say, 'I gave it everything.' I needed that massive opportunity to come my way and finally it has. I mean, you can have records of 100-1, but if you haven't had big tests at the highest level, really nobody should care and that is what I have the opportunity to do here; prove to myself that I got pretty damn good at something I spent half of my life doing, I mean, I gave it everything," he explained.
It is evident that De Mori is of the belief that he has a chance to win this fight and put to bed any hopes of people witnessing all-British showdowns between Haye and Joshua or Fury, which will most certainly fall by the wayside if Haye falls short in his return to the ring. Either way, De Mori feels that despite Fury's fight being far from exciting, he does believe the Gypsy King will look for big money fights; fights that will not include David Haye.
"Technically, Tyson Fury did everything he needed to do to become the best heavyweight in the world. Was the fight exciting? To me, not at all. It is not going to inspire anybody to become a boxing fan; that is the way I'm going to look at it. But he is 6 foot 9, he has super long arms, and that is his strategy. You do what you have to do to win. I don't think he will give Haye a fight. He will be looking for a rematch with Klitschko or a unification fight with Wilder. It will be huge money," De Mori added.
Stay tuned to hear what De Mori had to say regarding a new Haye style and his own strategy for the fight.
David Haye takes on Mark de Mori at The O2 on January 16, for tickets visit axs.com. #HayemakerIsBack