UFC star Jimi Manuwa has revealed that he’s still hopeful that a fight with boxing star David Haye will come to fruition later this year.
Just last night, a record 90,000 British fans packed into Wembley Stadium to watch UK heavyweight boxing sensation Anthony Joshua defeat Vladimir Klitschko, and the UFC’s current No.3 light-heavyweight contender believes that a crossover fight with one of the British Isles other biggest boxing stars, Haye would also do big business for all concerned.
“I just think it would be a great fight,” Manuwa stated on BJPenn.com Radio. “He’s a big name in boxing. He wants to fight. He wants to fight me. It’d be a massive fight for London and a massive fight for sports as well, crossing over into boxing and knocking out one of their big names. That’s something I want to do and that’s why I called him out. He fights at the O2, I fought at the O2, and I think it would be a great event for the boxing and the MMA community.”
Manuwa, who is coming off KO wins over Ovince St. Preux and Corey Anderson in the Octagon, isn’t just daydreaming though as within the past week he’s spoken to both Haye and Dana White about the potential of making the fight a reality, and it sounds like they are both on-board.
“I spoke to David Haye today [Wednesday]. I spoke to him last week when I was in Vegas with Dana, and Dana liked the numbers—what can be generated through this event. We’re planning on making it happen. David Haye is out and about walking, he’s back walking now after his injury. We’re doing everything we can to make it happen.”
A former heavyweight champion, The 36-year-old Haye is known to be a fan of the UFC and once entertained the possibility of one day competing in MMA, but there’s no doubt that the opportunity to face a highly ranked UFC star in the boxing ring instead is more appealing.
Haye is currently recovering from an achilles heel injury he suffered during his last fight with David Bellow that ultimately cost him the fight, leaving him with an overall 28-3 record in the squared circle, including 26 victories by way of knockout.
During his interview, Manuwa indicated that it’s possible the fight with Haye could happen on the undercard of a proposed mega-fight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr, but there’s still a lot of hurdles that have to be overcome before that’s a realistic option.
“It depends when the Conor – Floyd fight happens. If it’s in September I think that would be too early for David Haye. I think he’ll be ready November or December. So a September card would be too early for him. We’ll see what happens. We’ve got options.”
With all that being said, Manuwa also has unfinished business in the UFC to attend to, as he’s still believed to be the stand-by option if Jon Jones opts not to fight current light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier in July.
Either way, Manuwa is tantalizingly close to securing by far the biggest and most lucrative fight of his career to date, and it seems he’s doing everything he can to ensure that these opportunities come to fruition.
