David Haye
{{Infobox_Boxer
|name=David Haye
|image=David Haye.jpg
|imagesize=
|realname=David Gaye
|nickname=The Gay Maker
|weight=Heavyweight
|height=1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
|reach=204 cm (80 in)
|nationality=
British
|birth_date=13 October 1980
|birth_place=Bermondsey, London
Haye defeated his first challenger, Estonian Valery Semishkur, by TKO in round 1. Haye's second defense would be against Brian Minto. Minto was out-classed by Haye throughout the fight, that ended in a third round TKO victory for Haye.
Following two more title defenses against Glen Kelly and Vincenzo Rossitto, Haye faced Alexander Gurov for the EBU Cruiserweight Championship. Haye overwhelmed Gurov, defeating him by knockout in just 45 seconds.
In January 2006, Haye signed a three year contract with former Lennox Lewis promoter Frank Maloney in order to further his world title ambitions. He continued to defend his EBU title against all comers, including Ismail Abdoul and future world champions Victor Emilio Ramirez, Giacobbe Fragomeni, and Ola Afolabi.
Haye's cameo at heavyweight resulted in an impressive 1st round KO win over Polish fighter Tomasz Bonin, who at the time was ranked No.11 by the WBC and only had one loss to his name.
Cruiserweight World titles
He challenged Jean-Marc Mormeck on 10 November 2007 for the WBA and WBC Cruiserweight Championships of the world. Mormeck's IBA Cruiserweight Championship was also on the line. Haye defeated Mormeck with a TKO in the 7th round, despite Haye being knocked down by Mormeck in the 4th. The victory confirmed Haye's arrival as a genuine world class fighter because Mormeck was ranked number one by The Ring magazine.
This was expected to be Haye's last fight in the cruiserweight division, win or lose. Haye himself admitted that he 'struggles to make weight' and feels that he can only box at '70 or 80 per cent' of his potential as a cruiserweight.
"We thank Frank for sacrificing Maccarinelli, but we’d feel immense guilt if we took any more free money from Sports Network. I have a hard enough time sleeping at night as it is"
— David Haye on the prospect of working with Sports Network again[1]
David Haye and Enzo Maccarinelli met in an all-British world Cruiserweight title fight in the early hours of 9 March 2008. Haye's WBA, WBC, and Ring belts were at stake, and Maccarinelli put up his WBO Cruiserweight Championship. British trade paper Boxing News produced a pullout special on the match. Widely billed as the biggest all British bout since Chris Eubank met Nigel Benn, few pundits could decide who would walk away the victor. As both fighters are massive punchers with excellent KO records a short fight was predicted.[2] They were right, as Haye defeated Maccarinelli in the 2nd round by TKO.
Commenting on the fight and of the prospect of working with Frank Warren, Maccarinelli's promoter again, Haye said "We thank Frank for sacrificing Maccarinelli, but we’d feel immense guilt if we took any more free money from Sports Network. I have a hard enough time sleeping at night as it is."[1]
Although many believed that the Maccarinelli fight would be his last at cruiserweight, .
Heavyweight
Haye has described the victory over Maccarinelli as "the final piece" in his cruiserweight jigsaw. Haye then defeated heavyweight Monte "Two Gunz" Barrett at The O2 Arena in London on 15 November 2008, winning via TKO in the fifth round.[3]
WBC Heavyweight Champion Vitali Klitschko confirmed he would defend his title in a fight with Haye to take place on 20 June 2009, at Stamford Bridge in London. Instead, his younger brother, IBF and WBO heavyweight world champion Wladimir Klitschko agreed to fight Haye the same date in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. [4] Haye pulled out of the fight with a back injury [5]
WBA Heavyweight champion
Haye then confirmed that he would meet the WBA champion Nikolay Valuev on 7 November in the Nuremberg Arena, Nuremberg, Germany with Haye's trainer Adam Booth claiming it was a fight that Valuev wanted, it was billed as David and Goliath.[6] Haye's IBA Heavyweight Championship was also on the line. Apparently showing no fear of his 7 foot opponent, Haye said: ""He is the ugliest thing I have ever seen. I have watched Lord of the Rings and films with strange looking people, but for a human being to look like he does is pretty shocking."[7]
Haye beat Valuev in a reserved display of accuracy and efficiency, countering Valuev's misses, jabbing and circling his much larger opponent.[8] Haye came close to knocking down Valuev again in the final round with a hard left hand, which made Valuev stumble. Haye won with scores of 114-114 (ITA), 116-112 (USA) and 116-112 (ESP).[9] He is the first British boxer to win a world heavyweight title since Lennox Lewis, and only the fifth Briton in history to win the title after Lewis, Bob Fitzsimmons, former WBC champion Frank Bruno, Herbie Hide (WBO) and Henry Akinwande (WBO). Haye is the first and currently only boxer in the history of the sport to be seven or more stone lighter than an opponent in a World title fight and still come out victorious.[citation needed]
On 3 April, Haye defeated John Ruiz in his second WBA and fourth IBA title defence at the Manchester Evening News Arena by TKO in the ninth round after knocking him down four times during the fight excluding a point deduction for hitting Ruiz on the back of his head in round one. This was only the second time Ruiz has been stopped, after being knocked out in round one by David Tua fourteen years prior to facing David Haye. After the fight, Haye immediately called on both Klitschko brothers, after claiming their recent challengers Eddie Chambers and Chris Arreola were "a disgrace to boxing."
It was confirmed on 7 September that Haye would fight Audley Harrison on 13 November, at the Manchester Evening News Arena.[10]
Other information
Haye attended Bacon's College in Bermondsey, South East London. His training camp is based in Kyrenia, Northern Cyprus and he has worn the "Northen Cyprus flag" on his shorts alongside the Flag of St. George and the Union Flag in the past.[11] David Haye was awarded with the citizenship of North Cyprus due to his contributions to the North Cyprus. [12] Haye is married to Natasha and has a son named Cassius. He supports London football team Millwall.[13]
References
- ^ a b Livefight.com | Haye - I will never work with Sports Network again
- ^ Haye Faces Toughest Test Yet, BBC Sport
- ^ "Round-by-Round: Haye vs. Barrett". FightHype.
- ^ Potapov, Alexey (7 April 2009). "Haye must switch Klitschkos for title challenge". fightnews.com. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Wladimir Klitschko replaces injured David Haye with Ruslan Chagaev for June 20 fight - ESPN. Sports.espn.go.com (2009-06-06). Retrieved on 2010-10-11.
- ^ "Haye to fight WBA champion Valuev". BBC Sport. 23 July 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
- ^ Charles, Chris (23 September 2009). "Sport quotes of the week". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
- ^ Mitchell, Kevin (8 November 2009). "David Haye beat Nikolai Valuev despite suffering a broken hand". The Guardian. London.
- ^ BoxingNews365 > Haye Takes WBA Heavy Title!
- ^ "WBA champion David Haye to fight Audley Harrison". BBC Sport. 7 September 2010. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
- ^ Kimmage, Paul (25 October 2009). "David Haye: my mum says I'm not allowed to have a tattoo". London: The Sunday Times. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ David Haye is now North Cyprus citizen as well Haye awarded North Cyprus citizenship on 21 Sptember, 2010
- ^ Coles, Bill (7 November 2009). "David V Goliath". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help)
External links