Haye foe lends a hand

David Haye has been sparring with Giacobbe Fragomeni ahead of his cruiserweight showdown with Jean-Marc Mormeck.

Hayemaker turns to Fragomeni ahead of Mormeck clash

David Haye has turned to an old foe to help him topple Jean-Marc Mormeck. The Londonder has been sparring with former victim Giacobbe Fragomeni ahead of his WBC and WBA title cruiserweight showdown in Paris next month. The nine-round defeat in November 2006 was the only one time the Italian has been beaten in 24 fights and Haye believes his toughness and style are the perfect preparation for Mormeck. "The tough Italian I fought has come over to my north Cyprus training camp and really put me through it," he told Sky Sports. "He's always a tough guy as we saw in the fight, he doesn't take a step backwards, he's fit, he's fast and he's aggressive. We've had some great wars." Haye is expecting another such battle when he climbs into the ring at the Stade Marcel Cerdan on November 10. Mormeck has seen off the very best in the 14st 4lbs division, including O'Neil Bell, Wayne Braithwaite and Virgil Hill and the Londoner admits he will have to be at the peak of his powers if he is going to replace the Frenchman as the best cruiserweight in the world.

Seasoned

"If I make a mistake, this guy is gonna to take me out," he said. "If I'm not 100 per cent in every area of my game, this guy's gonna take me out. He punches that hard, he's that strong, he's experienced and he's a seasoned, seasoned fighter. "Jean-Marc Mormeck is regarded universally as the man at cruiserweight, so this is the guy to beat. I'm ranked number two, he's ranked number one, so it's the only fight left before I've achieved my goals are cruiserweight - after that we can start looking at the big boys." Haye has been accused of cutting corners in the past and has been known to struggle to boil down to the cruiserweight limit. This is likely to be his last fight at the weight before he moves back up to heavyweight, boosted by his 105-second destruction of Tomasz Bonin, but the 26-year-old says he couldn't be in better shape. "For the last three-and-a-half months I have been in camp, training solidly, dieting really hard," he said. "The weight is steadily coming down and now I'm in the perfect position. I'm now ahead of schedule, five or six weeks ahead of where I normally am. It's a good place to be. "I've watched him live, seen an untold number of his fights, professional and amateur. He's tough. We all knows he comes forward throwing bombs from the first round trying to knock you out, and everybody knows that I do the same. "We're going to clash in the middle of the ring and it's gonna be one of the most explosive fights you've seen for a long time. "But 100 per cent I'm gonna win. I'm gonna knock him out."