• Boxing

Haye close to attacking Wlad at press conference

ESPN staff
May 10, 2011
No handshakes, no smiling: David Haye's attitude towards Wladimir Klitschko © Getty Images
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David Haye has revealed that he "wanted to attack" Wladimir Klitschko during their intense six-minute face-off in Hamburg on Monday.

Haye's animosity towards his July 2 opponent was palpable in Hamburg, as he shunned the Ukrainian's offer of a handshake and then proceeded to launch the latest in a long line of verbal attacks.

Whereas Klitschko was keen to claim the moral high ground, claiming he respected his opponent, Haye showed that he has no interest in being cordial. "I wanted to attack him," Haye said. "There was a real annoying smirk on his face and I wanted to wipe it off."

When Haye calmed down following his staredown with Klitschko, he said that he wanted to bring the WBO, IBO and IBF titles back to England in tribute to heavyweight legend Sir Henry Cooper, who died last week.

"There could be no higher acclaim than to bring back all the belts in Sir Henry's name," Haye said. "Unifying the championships and bringing them back to South London. I'm sure Henry would be there in spirit. He fought over here in Germany, he rebuilt his career here so it would be a nice tribute for me to do that."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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