Lewis warns Haye over Klitschko return

Lennox Lewis has warned David Haye against returning to the ring with a fight against either of the Klitschko brothers.

Haye lost his WBA heavyweight title to WBO and IBF champion Wladimir Klitschko last year with a lacklustre points defeat which he partly blamed on a broken little toe.

The Londoner retired after the defeat but has since vowed to return – but only to fight Wladimir or his brother Vitali, who holds the WBC belt. However, Lewis, Britain’s previous world heavyweight champion, said Haye ought to have two warm-up fights first.

“David should come out of retirement,” said Lewis.

“He should come back, but he should not think about the Klitschkos right now.

“He should beat a couple of other people, so people actually think: ‘yeah, you know, he can do it this time, he can beat a Klitschko’.

“There is a lot of money for him on the table and that is important for any fighter. All he has to do it is jump in there against one of the Klitschkos and take it, but he should have a couple of different fights first.

“If he beats a couple of other fighters first, he could build himself back up.”

Meanwhle, the 40-year-old Vitali will take on unheralded Londoner Dereck Chisora, 28, next.

Lewis, the last man to beat Vitali nine years ago, said Chisora could stage a shock when he fights the Ukrainian in Munich on February 18 even though the challenger has lost his last two fights.

“Vitali is very good but Chisora has a chance,” said Lewis.

“He is a heavyweight. All it takes is one punch on the chin to win.”