By Nick Halling

Former world light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver (30-6, 21KOs) has expressed an interest in fighting in the UK. The Magic Man clearly feels he has some tread left on his tires, and fancies mixing it up on the British heavyweight scene.

Tarver has been busy banging the drum on social media for a fight with former WBA champ David Haye – who’s own status remains up in the air following shoulder surgery. Tarver reckons it’s a guaranteed sellout which will end in a knockout. And he’s probably right on both counts.

If Tarver is serious about this, the news will have already been picked up on the radar of the leading UK-based promoters. It might also give Haye an additional incentive to formally announce his future intentions.  It’s a sure-fire payday all round.

And if anyone might be tempted to suggest that Tarver might be a little long in the tooth for this sort of thing, at 45 years old, there are plenty of precedents. James Tony boxed in a Prizefighter event late last year at the same age, and Matt Skelton’s 47-year-old bones are being dragged off his sofa to face rising star Anthony Joshua next month.

Nick Halling is a commentator for Sky Sports.