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Haye still focused on October retirement

David Haye still wants to retire when he turns 31 © Getty Images

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David Haye has confirmed he is still committed to retiring when he turns 31 later this year, whether or not he has fought Vitali Klitschko and unified the heavyweight division.

Haye, who fights Wladimir Klitschko in Germany on July 2, has always maintained that he will retire from boxing on his 31st birthday on October 13. Ideally he would like to defeat Wladimir and then move on to face WBC champion Vitali before that date, but admits he is preparing for his upcoming clash in Hamburg with the mindset that it could be his last time inside a boxing ring.

"It could be my last fight," Haye told the BBC. "I've always said that I am going to retire when I'm 30. If there's another fight [against Vitali] that can happen quickly then let's get it on.

"Otherwise, once I've unified the titles, there's nowhere else to go - I've always anticipated retiring and have adjusted my life according to that."

Haye injured his hand in the fight with Russian Nikolai Valuev in November 2009 that earned him his WBA belt. The Brit revealed that a repeat setback against Wladimir would almost certainly see the end of his career - although he hopes such a possibility only serves to sharpen his focus for the meeting with Klitschko.

"If I damage my hand in the same way I damaged it against Valuev, hypothetically that would be my last fight," he acknowledged. "I'm training with that in mind, that this could potentially be my last fight, so I need to make it my best.

"I need to be in better condition mentally, physically, spiritually than ever before and I'm not going to let the British public down. No way am I going to leave my titles in Germany."

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