David Haye, the UKs WBA Heavyweight Champion boxer is not a shy man. For years, the man who retired from the Cruiserweight division having unified all existing belts, had stated his intention to retire from boxing early having used the sweet science as a means to get into acting. Anyone that has heard Haye speak will know that, while plainly an intelligent man- by the standards of boxers- his ego often exceeds his eloquence, and is frequently prone to cringing hyperbole, his horribly misjudged one sided gang-rape comment in the run-up to his Audley Harrison fight being particularly indicative. Never-the-less, the negative press inspired by such comments has not tempered his vocalism, nor his confidence in a career as an actor, having announced his interest in a part in
The Expendables 2. As we reported last week,
Sylvester Stallone will neither write nor direct the follow-up to his mindless pastiche actioner, but will instead turn to
David Agosto and
Ken Kaufman (Space Cowboys) to provide the screenplay. And, although Stallone seemed happy enough with the performance of neophyte actor and MMA legend
Randy Couture to invite him back for the follow up, the notion that a boxing champion with no acting experience would be catapulted into a film on this scale seems improbable. Still, when asked about his plans to retire after his proposed bout Wladimir Klitschko in the summer, Haye was characteristically bold:
Ive always loved films I believe I will be able to transcend from the sporting background into being a successful actor. (Ive had)Loads, loads, loads (of offers). I want to be in The Expendables 2, so fingers crossed.
Whether or not his fight with Klitschko finally goes ahead or not, it is likely that Hayes time as a boxer is drawing to a conclusion. Since claiming the WBA title from giant Russian Nikolai Valuev, Haye has cut a frustrated figure as he tried to traverse the dark and murky paths of boxing politics and finance to organising worth-while fights. Constantly ducked by the slippery emperors of heavyweight boxing, the Klitschkos, Haye had to make do with a farcical bout with Olympic gold medallist Audley Harrison whom he swatted away like a pear drunk, stingless wasp on a late summers evening. But, in boxing as well as life, Haye has never aspired to less that the very top, and people blessed with a lot less charisma and intelligence have featured in better films than The Expendables. Haye was of course absent from our
own Expendables 2 wishlist.....