DUBAI // Heavyweight boxing champion David Haye has his sights set on returning to the ring with a big fight in Dubai.
The former WBA heavyweight champion is recovering from a shoulder injury that last year threatened to derail his career and led doctors to advise him to hang up his gloves.
Haye, 33, is back in training and plans to scout for fight venues after his attempt to break the record for the world’s biggest indoor boxing fitness class next Saturday.
“What I’ve always wanted to do is get back in the ring and I want to fight in Dubai. That’s always been one of my dreams, to bring a big boxing game to Dubai,” Haye said yesterday.
“You’ve never had a big-time fight in Dubai that I can remember in the last 20 years. It would definitely be great for me to get big-time boxing to the UAE.”
The road to recovery has been tough after a five-hour reconstruction operation on his right shoulder in November last year.
“It’s been one of the most difficult years of my life,” Haye said.
“But things have started to turn around health-wise. The injury I sustained on my shoulder required six pins and that’s healed well, and I’ve made pretty much a full recovery.
“I’m doing the training that I didn’t believe I could do at one stage.”
First on his agenda is getting more than 500 people into a 40-minute fitness class he will lead next Saturday.
The current Guinness World Record was set in Sydney, Australia with 498 people this year.
The Dubai class will include a shadow-boxing session with a boxing-themed warm-up and warm-down. Haye is promising to move around talking to participants along with other coaches.
Participants at Dubai Sports World, the emirate’s largest indoor summer venue, next Saturday must pay a minimum donation of Dh30 on arrival.
Proceeds will go to Dubai’s Rashid Paediatric Therapy Centre.
Haye advises participants to wear loose, comfortable clothing. All ages and fitness levels welcome.
“I want to see teenagers, kids, mums, I want to see people who have never trained before, people who have no connection to fitness or sports,” he said.
“It’s not going to be hard core. You don’t have to be super fit. People can turn up who have never exercised before.”
The rules of the Guinness World Record stipulate that participants must complete the entire session “without pausing or leaving”.
Haye will also talk about nutrition and teach some basic boxing moves.
“One rule stipulates every person who starts has to finish so if they fall over in 10 minutes because they can’t cope, we lose,” he said.
“So we need to get over 500 people and all of those 500 people need to start and finish. You walk away with having a good workout and learning a skill and everybody needs to have fun.”
Using the record to raise money for the Rashid Centre that he visited this year is an effort he is keen on.
“They can use every bit of money they can get,” Haye said. “So when a possible world record attempt was mentioned I thought, ‘what better connection to do something in Dubai and for a great cause?’”
Haye also plans to open a health club in Downtown Dubai called the Hayemaker Gym. “I love the energy of Dubai. Even if Dubai were to stop every single building work it’s got going on, it would still probably be the most extraordinary city on the planet. I’d like to be part of something like that.”
Participants should arrive at Dubai World Trade Centre by 10am next Saturday to be part of Haye’s record attempt. The class starts at 11am.
rtalwar@thenational.ae