Skelton after a Haye Payday

Promoter Frank Warren has offered David Haye a whopping £600,000 payday to fight Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion Matt Skelton in the Autumn. Haye, the WBO/WBC/WBA Cruiserweight Champion, now intends to campaign in the heavyweight division and is looking at Hasim Rahman as his next opponent. Skelton took WBA World Champion Ruslan Chagaev the distance in January and is ranked above Rahman in the independent rankings. But Warren believes that Haye should first prove himself to be the best in Britain by taking on Skelton, the number one ranked heavyweight in the country, before he looks overseas. He said: "This is a massive payday for Haye and a great opportunity to see if he is the real deal in the heavyweight division that he tells us he is. Skelton is the best in Britain and pushed Chagaev all the way in their world title fight. If Haye is serious about the heavyweight division he should fight Skelton first." Haye has already been knocked out by a 40-year-old in Carl Thompson and Skelton, who hits the big 4-0 shortly, is really up for the job. Skelton said: "I want the fight big time. It's a massive clash between Britain's biggest men. Haye wants to prove himself as a heavyweight so he should face the best and that's me. I know that I've got the power to knock him out."