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Harrison as dangerous as Klitschkos - Booth

David Haye is in his prime, according to his trainer Adam Booth © Getty Images

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Adam Booth has warned a "prime" David Haye that a fired-up Audley Harrison is as dangerous as the Klitschko brothers.

Haye puts his WBA heavyweight title on the line when he takes on former friend and sparring partner Harrison at the MEN Arena in Manchester on Saturday night.

The verbal jousting between the pair has been prevalent in the pre-fight build-up, with Haye persistently questioning Harrison's resume and credentials as a fighter.

But, despite the former Olympic champion failing to impress throughout his professional career, Haye's trainer Booth is warning his charge to expect a stern challenge from Harrison.

"Harrison is as dangerous as any heavyweight - he's an 18-stone man with a lot of pride and a lot of desire in this fight," he told Sky Sports. "That desire, and the fact he's putting himself into a trance, he's hypnotising himself over the last few weeks so he can go into a character that he needs to be in this fight. I expect him to be a big threat, a very tense affair.

"Because he's put himself in that trance with all the positive mantras, David's challenge is firstly to wake him up from that so he becomes the Audley that he really is - then we'll put him to sleep.

"The history is inspiring him to do the publicity stuff and realise that it's a fantastic story that people are interested in. It adds a little bit of spice, a little bit of needle, to a guy that's been firing on all cylinders."

As both boxers taper down with fight night just days away, all the hard work has already been done - and Booth could not be happier with the way things have gone in Haye's training camp.

"I know that he's better than ever," he said. "This training camp has been the best thing he's ever had. That, combined with the fact he's in his peak now, as a 30-year-old, and he still has that element of youth and belief in himself.

"For once we've managed to get to this stage without any injuries, any problems. So he is 100%. We've been able to do everything [in the training camp]. We haven't had to compromise on running or sparring, conditioning sessions or pad work. Normally we have to drop sessions out, take two or three sessions out here or there with an illness. It happens all the time.

"The only other time he's had an uninterrupted training session was before the [Enzo] Maccarinelli fight (a fight Haye won in the second round). But this time he's more experienced - world heavyweight and cruiserweight champion - and he's the complete fighter as well."

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