DAVID HAYE has attempted to reinvent himself as a fighter in the hope of making a successful comeback.
The former WBA heavyweight champion fights the little-known Mark de Mori on Saturday, three-and-a-half years after his last appearance, when he stopped Dereck Chisora in five rounds in July 2012. Since then, owing to a hand injury, a cut eye and a career-threatening shoulder injury, Haye has twice withdrawn from fights with Tyson Fury and another date with Manuel Charr, significantly damaging his reputation and making retirement appear likely.
In addition to the effects of the ring rust that will have gathered after such a lengthy absence, his change of trainer from Adam Booth to Shane McGuigan, and the shoulder injury which required surgery, there is a risk that, at 35, his reflexes - so central to his explosive style - will no longer be present and that he will therefore have declined.
Four days before fighting Australian De Mori, however, Haye's upper body clearly has a bigger build and he insisted that that had not affected his speed and that his greater size is deliberate because it helps him to avoid further injuries.
"I don't really weigh myself, I'm just packing in the food as much as I can," he said.
"I used to, in years gone by, diet down a lot. In my old training camps, I used to get as light as I could possibly get, I used to come in around 15 stone, I'd lose a stone just cutting my food down. The general consensus back then was, the lighter I am, the closer I am to cruiserweight, the faster I will be and that's all well and good, but when you're cutting weight down so low, and sparring big guys, I get injured.
"A good reason not to do that is injury prevention, so instead of dieting down I've been packing the food in, eating every two, two-and-a-half hours. I'm setting alarms to make sure that I eat, that the weight doesn't get too low. I've been performing with that additional weight. I'm not as ripped as I was in my last few fights, but it's not a bodybuilding competition, I'm more ripped than him [De Mori] though.
"I'm more focused on performance, I'm more focused on punch variety and speed and I definitely feel that you're going to see me new and improved. The fact that I've got to this fight without injuries sounds crazy but, for me, that's the real, real big plus, a big bonus."
De Mori, 33, has never previously faced a fighter of Haye's profile, but he was adamant he is not reliant on the heavyweight's injuries recurring and that he intends to win by applying consistent pressure.
"I've learned a bit about David from the press conferences, talking about the difference in his training," he said.
"The time off has probably done the guy good. This is less about breaking him down and looking for injuries that he may or may not have, it's more just about putting myself in position to land a knockout punch.
"To put yourself in that position, you can't sit around on the outside dancing around and being defensive, you have to engage. It's a risky approach, but it's the only approach a guy with my style can take and that's what I'm prepared for."
