David Haye claims he is receiving a bigger purse for his Saturday 11 September bout against Joe Fournier, than he did for his first Tony Bellew bout.

The former unified Cruiserweight World Champion and WBA Heavyweight Champion will fight friend, businessman Joe Fournier, in an eight-round professional bout that will take place in Hollywood, Florida.

Speaking with YouTube platform IFL TV about his fight purse, Haye said: “It’s crazy, it's more than I got for Bellew one. It’s crazy dough.

“So, what am I going to say to that? No, I’m not going to fight Joe for that.

“What would people think if I didn’t fight him [Joe Fournier] for that, what would they think? They’d think, I’ve got something wrong with me.

“I don’t. I’m really healthy, I’m really good so I’ve just got to go through the motions, do what I do, let the universe even itself out and yeah, it’s a good month’s work.”

Read more: David Haye vs Joe Fournier: Date, Odds, Tickets, Stats, Venue, Card And Everything You Need To Know

The bout was originally due to take place in Los Angeles and scheduled to be an exhibition on the undercard of Oscar De La Hoya v Victor Belfort, however according to ESPN Boxing and MMA reporter Mike Coppinger, the Florida commission has sanctioned both the Haye and Fournier and Anderson Silva and Tito Ortiz bouts as professional fights.

Mike Coppinger David Haye v Joe Fournier Tweet

The headline fight has also seen a change as Oscar De La Hoya had to withdraw from his scheduled fight with Vitor Belfort after contracting Covid and so, Triller have announced that he will be replaced by another boxing legend, Evander Holyfield.

As a professional David Haye ended his career with a record of 28-4, with his last outing in 2018, when he retired after back-to-back defeats against Tony Bellew. Fournier’s last fight was much more recent, as he fought musician Reykon on the Jake Paul v Ben Askren undercard in April this year and stopped his opponent in the second round.

Whilst both are good friends, when the first bell sounds, you would imagine that friendship will go out of the window for the length that the fight lasts and both will be looking to walk away victorious and have the bragging rights!