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Haye tells Fury to put up or shut up

David Haye faces Manuel Charr in Manchester on June 29 © Getty Images

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David Haye has cooled talk over a potential fight with undefeated heavyweight Tyson Fury at the end of the year - claiming his British rival is not interested.

Haye faces Manuel Charr at the MEN Arena in Manchester on June 29, but stated that his trainer Adam Booth had contacted Fury's team to organise the bout and was told that Fury was not interested.

With Haye keen to move into a mandatory position and challenge either Wladimir or Vitali Klitshcko for a world title, the 32-year-old admitted that a clash with Fury is now looking unlikely.

"He [Fury] has been mentioned a lot, particularly by himself," Haye told Sky Sports News. "Tyson continues to say he wants to fight me, he wants to knock me out and he wants to retire me.

"It all sounds fantastic, but Adam contacted his promoter Mick Hennessy to which he was told that he wasn't going to fight me and that he was going in a different direction."

Former WBA champion Haye, who recently teamed up with Matchroom Sports and promoter Eddie Hearn, confirmed that talks had taken place and that a fight with Fury was almost a done deal, before the 24-year-old decided to go down a different route.

"It's one thing saying it, it's another thing doing it," Haye added. "This is the type of guy who said he wants to fight me for the last few months, and we contacted him and asked 'do you want to do it?' and he said 'yes'. So he flew directly to England and sorted the contract out and that was done.

"Then Adam contacted Tyson's people and they're now going a different route which is fair enough, they don't have to fight me. But if you don't want to fight me or if you're not going to fight me then don't be telling the world you do, because it's bad."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.