Manuwa still wants to box ‘weird guy with funny hair’ David Haye

The UFC was born as a style vs. style contest. In time, everyone began to cross train. Now the latest twist is cross-sport promotion – MMA fighters wanting to box.

Conor McGregor started it, vs. Floyd Mayweather. Then Vasyl Lomachenko, Manny Pacquiao, Ricardo Mayorga, Amir Khan, Paulie Malignaggi, Canelo Alvarez and others called out McGregor. Khan, uniquely, offered to fight under MMA rules.

In March, after knocking out Corey Anderson at UFC Fight Night 107 in London, light heavyweight Jimi Manuwa called out boxer David Haye.

David Haye, let’s do this, said Manuwa, still in the Octagon. We’re two of the hardest hitters in London. I think the fight makes sense.

There is some debate on whether it actually makes sense or not, but it could make money. Hey responded shortly afterward.

Yeah we have heard from Manuwa’s management and UFC, said Haye, as transcribed by Chuck Mindenhall for MMA Fighting. so it is something that we are looking at at the moment. Obviously it is a little way off being confirmed. But it is a fight that would unify a lot of the fans from both UFC and boxing and make a mega event.

Manuwa discussed it further during a recent appearance on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour.

I think it would be a great fight, said Manuwa. Conor McGregor wants to fight Floyd Mayweather, why not put me against David Haye? David Haye is a big name in boxing, and he just lost to Tony Bellew.

I’ll come to his world. We’ll do boxing. We’re two big names in London as well, and everything, I think why not?

[Haye] won’t last in MMA, because I’ll take him down and smash him. I’ll come for his belt. I’ll come to his world. It’s a big money fight in London, we’ll sell out the O2 and that’ll make sense. We can go to Vegas. We can go on the McGregor undercard. I heard Roy Jones wants to fight Anderson Silva as well. This is picking up momentum, let’s do this.

“I’ve seen him around — he’s a funny guy. I don’t really…I’m not too fond of him. I haven’t got an issue with him, but I just think he’s a bit of a weirdo.

I don’t know, it’s his funny hair and his funny attitude towards life and other fighters. And how he thinks he’s on this high pedestal when I don’t think he is, and I want to test his mettle.

I remember me and him were going to do a training session for the media sort of thing, and I remember him saying to the PR that if he hits me hard he was going to knock out. And the training session didn’t happen.

I haven’t got no issue with him. He is what he is, and that’s it. He’s in boxing and I’m in MMA, but I still think we should fight though.

Manuwa was asked why MMA fighters are called out boxers to box, rather than boxers calling out MMA fighters to fight.

Because we’re warriors, said Manuwa. We’re warriors. We’ll go to their turf. We’re the hardest, toughest working athletes in the world. We fear no one. We’ll come to boxing and do their thing. We do boxing. They don’t do MMA. They’re scared to do MMA.