David Deron Haye (born 13 October 1980) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 2002 and 2018. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, and was the first British boxer to reach the final of the

World Amateur Boxing Championships The IBA World Boxing Championships, and the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships (previously known as AIBA), are biennial amateur boxing competitions organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA), which is the sport governing body. A ...

, where he won a silver medal in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

. As a professional, Haye became a unified cruiserweight world champion in 2008, winning three of the four major world titles, as well as the '' Ring'' magazine and lineal titles. He was ranked by

BoxRec BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing. The objective of the site is to document every profes ...

as the world's No.1 cruiserweight from 2005 to 2007, and was also ranked within ten best in 2003 and 2004. In 2008 he moved up to

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the W ...

, winning the WBA title in 2009 after defeating Nikolai Valuev, who had a size advantage of in height and in weight over Haye. Along with

Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the Undisputed championship (boxing), undisputed champion at cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight in the late 1 ...

and Oleksandr Usyk, Haye is one of only three boxers in history to have unified the cruiserweight world titles and become a world heavyweight champion. As of September 2021, BoxRec ranks Haye as the 12th greatest British fighter of all time. Haye founded his own boxing promotional firm, Hayemaker Promotions, in 2008. He became a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

in 2014 and launched his own range of vegan protein powder later that year.

Early life

David Deron Haye was born in the

Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham ...

area of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 13 October 1980, to a white English mother and a black Jamaican father. He grew up in Bermondsey for most of his childhood, and attended Bacon's College in

Rotherhithe Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of D ...

Amateur career

At the age of eighteen, Haye competed in the

light-heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

division at the 1999 World Amateur Boxing Championships in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

, Texas. He knocked out then-ABA light-heavyweight champion

Courtney Fry Courtney Fry (born 19 May 1975) is a British former boxer who competed professionally from 2003 to 2015. As an amateur, he won a gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and represented Great Britain at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

, but missed out on the 2000 Sydney Olympics after a controversial defeat in the qualifier in which he was eliminated by experienced American Michael Simms early in the contest. At the 2001 World Championshsips in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, Haye fought in the

division where he defeated

Sebastian Köber Sebastian Köber (born 28 May 1979) is a German boxing, boxer, who won the Olympic medalists in boxing, Heavyweight bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Three years later, at the 2003 World Amateur Boxing Championships in ...

to reach the final. In this bout he managed to score a

standing eight count A standing eight count, also known as a protection count, is a boxing judgment call made by a referee during a bout. When invoked, the referee stops the action and counts to eight. During that time, the referee will determine if the boxer can ...

against

Odlanier Solís Odlanier Solís Fonte (born 5 April 1980) is a Cuban professional boxer. He has challenged once for the WBC heavyweight title in 2011, and is a former top-rated contender in that division. As an amateur heavyweight, Solis was one of the most ...

, but was later stopped by the Cuban in round three to earn a silver medal. Haye's amateur record was 83–13.

Professional career

Early career at cruiserweight

Based in Bermondsey, Haye turned professional in December 2002, aged 22. In his first fight he defeated Tony Booth via second-round corner retirement (RTD). In 2003 he won seven fights, two of which were the only fights he has fought in the United States. He won all by

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving strikin ...

(KO), the most notable being a fourth-round KO of

Lolenga Mock Lolenga Mock (born 22 April 1972) is a Danish professional boxer. He held the European Union super-middleweight title three times between 2006 and 2011. A veteran of the sport for more than 25 years, Mock is known for his toughness and has only ...

, in which Haye had to come off the floor to win. Haye's fights were regularly seen on the BBC and his popularity began to grow in 2004, when he dispatched the 39-year-old former world champion "King" Arthur Williams in three rounds.

Haye vs. Thompson

Later that year, in his eleventh fight, he fought 40-year-old former WBO champion Carl Thompson in a 'youth vs. experience' match-up. Haye started fast and alarmingly caught Thompson with constant barrages of power punches, coming close to forcing a stoppage at numerous points over the first few rounds. Gradually, despite the early punishment he received, Thompson warmed up and worked his way into the fight whilst Haye seemed to tire and slow down. Thompson began to pressure Haye and knocked Haye down with a chopping right hand in round five. With seven seconds left in the round, Thompson landed two jabs followed by a flush right hand which cleanly caught a fatigued Haye, and compelled Haye's corner to throw in the towel; Haye was leading on all three scorecards before the stoppage.

European champion

Haye returned against Estonian Valery Semishkur, winning by technical knockout (TKO) in round one, then defeated

Garry Delaney Gary Delaney (born ) is an English professional boxer of the 1990s and 2000s. He won the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) Southern Area light heavyweight title, World Boxing Board (WBB) light heavyweight title, World Boxing Organizati ...

by a third-round TKO. Following two more fights against Glen Kelly and Vincenzo Rossitto, Haye faced Alexander Gurov for the European cruiserweight title. Haye easily knocked out Gurov with a single right hand in just 45 seconds.

Haye vs. Fragomeni

In January 2006, Haye signed a three-year contract with former

Lennox Lewis Lennox Claudius Lewis (born 2 September 1965) is a former professional boxer and boxing commentator who competed from 1989 to 2003. He is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and the last heavyweight to hol ...

promoter

Frank Maloney Kellie Maloney (born Francis Maloney, 23 January 1953) is an English boxing manager and promoter, and television personality. She managed Lennox Lewis between 1989 and 2001, who earned the title of undisputed heavyweight championship of the w ...

to further his world title ambitions. He successfully defended his European title against Ismail Abdoul in a lopsided twelve-round decision. He defeated

Giacobbe Fragomeni Giacobbe Fragomeni (born 13 August 1969) is an Italian professional boxer. He held the WBC cruiserweight title from 2008 to 2009, and the European Union cruiserweight title from 2007 to 2008. As an amateur he won a bronze medal at the 1997 Wo ...

, when he broke through the Italian's defences in the ninth round, finally flooring his man in a flurry of punches. Haye had waited seven years for the opportunity to defeat Fragomeni, who controversially out-pointed him as an amateur in the final qualifying tournament for the Sydney Games. Haye's cameo at heavyweight in April 2007 resulted in a first-round KO win over Polish fighter Tomasz Bonin, who at the time was ranked No. 9 by the WBC and had only one loss, against

Audley Harrison Audley Hugh Harrison, (born 26 October 1971) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2013. As an amateur he represented Great Britain at the 2000 Olympics, winning a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division an ...

. Haye admitted he was taking "a crazy step up" when he fought Bonin at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500- ...

. Haye said in a post-fight interview "If you asked me when I was three years old, I'd say I'm going to be the heavyweight champion of world. I never said cruiserweight. It's what I wanted to do since I can remember. I always wanted to be the main man in boxing. I want everyone to recognise I can beat every other boxer in the world. That's why I'm fighting the guy I'm fighting. I really want to prove to everyone I am the man."

Unified cruiserweight champion

Haye vs. Mormeck

Haye challenged Jean-Marc Mormeck (33–3, 22 KOs) on 10 November 2007 for the WBA, WBC, '' The Ring'' and lineal cruiserweight titles. Following being knocked down himself in the fourth round, Haye unleashed a combination made up of a right uppercut, left, then right hook to floor Mormeck in the seventh round to win by TKO. The victory meant Haye became Britain's sixth world champion. "I worked my way back into the fight and showed great heart, 17 weeks of hard work have paid off." The victory confirmed Haye's arrival as a genuine world class fighter. At this point Haye made his initial mark on history as Britain's first two-belt cruiserweight champion. The Mormeck fight was expected to be Haye's last fight in the cruiserweight division. However Haye would be tempted into a unification cruiserweight bout for the most lucrative fight of his career.

Haye vs. Maccarinelli

Haye and

Enzo Maccarinelli Enzo Maccarinelli (born 20 August 1980) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2016. He held the WBO cruiserweight title from 2006 to 2008. At regional level, he held the European and British cruiserweight titles betw ...

(28–1, 21 KOs) met in an all-British world cruiserweight title fight, in the early hours of 9 March 2008 at

O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to: *The O2 Arena (London) *O2 Arena (Prague) *The 3Arena The 3Arena (originally The O2) is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 Decemb ...

in London. Haye's WBA, WBC, and ''The Ring'' titles were at stake, while Maccarinelli's WBO title was on the line. British trade paper ''

Boxing News ''Boxing News'' is a British weekly boxing magazine published by Kelsey Media. It is the longest-running boxing magazine still in publication, dating back to 1909. History ''Boxing News'' was founded in 1909 by original editor John Murray as, ...

'' produced a pullout special on the match, which was widely billed as the biggest all-British bout since

Chris Eubank Christopher Livingstone Eubank (born 8 August 1966) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 1998. He held the WBO middleweight and super-middleweight titles between 1990 and 1995, and is ranked by BoxRec as the thir ...

met Nigel Benn. As both fighters were hard punchers with excellent KO records, a short fight was predicted. These predictions proved to be correct, as Haye knocked out Maccarinelli in the second round of the contest. Commenting on the fight and of the prospect of working again with Frank Warren, Maccarinelli's promoter, 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."Haye – I will never work with Sports Network again
Livefight.com (1 June 2008)

Heavyweight

Haye described the victory over Maccarinelli as "the final piece" in his cruiserweight jigsaw. Haye then defeated heavyweight Monte Barrett at

The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the ...

in London on 15 November 2008, winning via TKO in the fifth round. WBC heavyweight champion

Vitali Klitschko Vitali Volodymyrovych Klitschko (; uk, Віта́лій Володи́мирович Кличко́ ; born 19 July 1971) is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer who serves as mayor of KyivStamford Bridge in London. Instead, his younger brother,

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

, IBF, and IBO champion

Wladimir Klitschko Wladimir Klitschko; an equivalent English spelling is Vladimir Klichko . His full name in uk, label=Ukrainian is, Володимир Володимирович Кличко, Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Klychko, . ( uk, Володимир Вол� ...

agreed to fight Haye the same date in

Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; wep, Gelsenkiärken) is the 25th most populous city of Germany and the 11th most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher River (a tributary of the Rhine), it lies ...

, Germany. Haye pulled out of the fight with a back injury.

WBA heavyweight champion

Haye vs. Valuev

Haye then confirmed that he would meet the WBA champion Nikolay Valuev (50–1, 34 KOs) on 7 November 2009 in the

Nuremberg Arena Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest c ...

, Nuremberg, Germany. Haye's former trainer

Adam Booth Adam Booth is a British boxing trainer. He boxed amateur at Winston Churchill ABC, Croydon ABC and the Lynn ABC. Approximately 40+ bouts. Turned professional and suffered career ending injury prior to debut. Biography He is best known as the ...

said it was a fight that Valuev wanted; it was billed as David and Goliath. Haye weighed in at 217 pounds, almost 100 pounds less than his opponent. Haye said about Valuev: "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." Haye beat Valuev in a reserved display of accuracy and efficiency, countering Valuev's misses, jabbing and circling his much larger opponent. Haye came close to knocking Valuev down in the final round with a hard left hand, which made Valuev stumble. Haye won a

majority decision A majority decision (MD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving striking. In a majority decision, two of the three judges agree on wh ...

(MD) with scores of 114–114, 116–112, and 116–112. Haye is the first and currently only boxer in the history of the sport to be seven

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

or more lighter than an opponent in a world title fight and still come out victorious. The fight garnered 469,000 buys on

Sky Sports Box Office Sky Box Office is Sky's pay-per-view (PPV) system operated in the United Kingdom and Ireland. There were three branded divisions of Sky Box Office – Sky Cinema Box Office, Sky Sports Box Office and Sky 3D Box Office. Until 1 February 2011, the ...

, which saw Haye receive a payday of £2.1 million.

Haye vs. Ruiz

On 26 January 2010, former WBA champion

John Ruiz John Ruiz (born January 4, 1972) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2010, and held the WBA heavyweight title twice between 2001 and 2005. Ruiz is of Puerto Rican descent, and is the first Latino boxer to win a w ...

was announced as Haye's first title defence on 3 April at the M.E.N Arena in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, live on Sky Box Office. Ruiz, ranked as the number one contender by the WBA was initially in line to fight Valuev, however agree to step aside. Ruiz was unhappy at the fight being staged in the UK and not

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

, as he thought it would be. Ruiz did not show up at the official press conference. Haye defeated Ruiz in his first WBA title defence by TKO in the ninth round after knocking Ruiz down four times during the fight. This was only the second time Ruiz had been stopped, after being knocked out in round one by David Tua 14 years prior to facing Haye. After the fight, Haye immediately called on both

Klitschko brothers Vitali Klitschko (born 19 July 1971) and Wladimir Klitschko (born 25 March 1976), known as the Klitschko Brothers, are Ukrainian former professional boxers. During their peak years between 2004 and 2015, they were considered the dominant world he ...

, after claiming their recent challengers

Eddie Chambers Edward Chambers (born March 29, 1982) is an American former professional boxer. He challenged once for a unified world heavyweight title in 2010. He was ranked as the fourth best heavyweight in the world by '' The Ring'' at the conclusion of 200 ...

and

Chris Arreola Cristobal Arreola (born March 5, 1981) is an American professional boxer who has challenged three times for the WBC heavyweight title. He was ranked by BoxRec as the world's No.8 heavyweight at the conclusion of 2007 and as No.7 heavyweight fro ...

were "a disgrace to boxing." Haye earned a £1 million purse for the bout.

Haye vs. Harrison

It was confirmed on 7 September 2010 that Haye would fight Audley Harrison on 13 November 2010 at the Manchester Arena. The press conference for the bout became heated, leading to the two fighters swearing at each other on live television. On 13 November 2010, Haye defeated Harrison with one minute, seven seconds remaining of the third round by TKO. Southpaw Harrison landed one punch during the entire fight. He staggered to his feet after being knocked down, only for Haye to immediately pounce right back on him, hitting him with another flurry of punches. The referee intervened and ended the bout. Haye earned £4.2 million for the fight and Harrison had a purse of £1.5 million. The fight was bought by 223,000 households in the UK on Sky Box Office. An investigation took place after the fight and Harrison's purse was withheld, due to his underwhelming performance. After listening to Harrison's explanation, the

British Boxing Board of Control The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. History The British Boxing Board of Control was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardif ...

decided to release his purse. Haye's plans to unify the heavyweight division took a major setback in January 2011 when it was revealed that

Tomas Adamek Tomasz "Tomek" Adamek (; born 1 December 1976) is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2018. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBC light heavyweight title from 2005 to 2007, and the IBF and ...

would fight one of the Klitschko brothers in September 2011, before his planned retirement in October of that year. However, in April 2011, it was announced that Haye and Wladimir Klitschko had agreed to meet at the Imtech Arena in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

on 2 July 2011.

Haye vs. Wladimir Klitschko

Haye vs. Klitschko was the first heavyweight unification fight since Klitschko and Sultan Ibragimov fought back in 2008, when Klitschko beat Ibragimov and added the WBO title to his IBF title. Klitschko defeated Haye by

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...

(UD) to become the unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and ''The Ring'' heavyweight champion. Klitschko and Haye agreed to a 50–50 split of the purse and Haye was allotted 7,000 seats at the venue. Klitschko dominated the fight, statistically outlanding Haye nearly 2 to 1. The three judges scored it 117–109, 118–108, and 116–110 all in favour of Klitschko. Haye revealed afterwards that he had a broken toe. Both Klitschko and Haye reportedly earned $24 million each for the bout.

Retirement talks and return

BBC chief Charlie Smith told '' The Sun'' on 11 October 2011 that Haye had informed him that he would not be renewing his boxing licence, thus retiring from the sport. Haye has had a long-standing plan to retire early. After the Harrison fight Haye said his plans to retire before he is 31 had not altered: "I will have achieved what I wanted to achieve – undisputed cruiserweight champion, unify the heavyweight division and then call it a day." In December 2010, during the negotiations to fight Klitschko, Haye said if the fight did not happen, "I'll just have to accept that becoming the WBA champion was enough and move on with my life. That'll be 20 years of getting punched in the face, which is a long enough time. I set my goals and achieved them so unifying the titles is the cherry on the cake but if it doesn't happen it wasn't meant to be and I've just got to get on with my life".

Vitali Klitschko negotiations

Haye put retirement on hold and was in negotiations for a possible bout with WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko on 3 March 2012. However, Klitschko went on to schedule a fight with Derek Chisora on 18 February 2012, which he won by decision. Following the fight there was a fracas between Chisora and Haye, who had attended as a spectator, leading to speculation that Haye might come out of retirement to fight Chisora. However, on 21 February, Haye confirmed that he would only come out of retirement to fight Klitschko. On 8 May, Haye signed on to face Chisora on 14 July.

Haye vs. Chisora

Haye attended the 2012 WBC heavyweight title fight in which Vitali Klitschko defeated Derek Chisora. Following the fight, Haye began heckling the post-fight press conference, leading to a violent brawl with Chisora and his entourage. Klitschko's manager Bernd Boente said "with the bad experience we've had with British fighters we will now look for other countries". He then told Haye from the dais "You had an offer, you didn't accept it, now you are out. You are out. You cannot talk yourself back into the fight, you have no belts." Chisora then called out Haye, but Haye dismissed Chisora as "a loser". Chisora taunted Haye by asking him "How's your toe David? How's your toe?". Chisora challenged Haye to tell him that to his face and approached Haye sparking a melee with Haye throwing the first punch with what appeared to be a glass bottle in his hand, as the brawl progressed Haye was seen swinging a camera tripod. After order was restored, a furious Chisora stated multiple times that he would "shoot" Haye and claimed Haye "glassed" him. Haye's former manager

emerged from the fracas with a facial wound and Chisora suggested to Booth that Haye hit him with a bottle by mistake while Booth insisted it was one of Chisora's entourage that had hit him with a bottle. During an interview at the Haye vs. Chisora press conference, Booth was asked "how did you end up with a cut on your head?" to which he replied "David hit me with a tripod" but also added "he bought me a new S-Class Mercedes as an apology". On 8 May 2012, Haye and his promotion team announced that he would fight against Chisora at

Boleyn Ground The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...

, Upton Park, London on 14 July 2012. The announcement caused controversy as neither held a British Boxing Licence, and so had agreed a licence deal with the Luxembourg Boxing Association. Seen as a direct attempt to undermine the British Boxing Board of Control, it meant that fights could take place in Britain even if a boxer was facing disciplinary action. Haye won the fight with a fifth-round stoppage in front of over 40,000 spectators. Knocked to the floor in the fifth round, receiving a count of eight, Chisora recovered only to be floored again in the same round. Referee Luis Pabon decided Chisora was unable to continue, signalling the end of the contest.

Tyson Fury talks and fallout

Haye was due to fight Manuel Charr at Manchester Arena on 29 June 2013. However, the fight was called off because Haye had suffered an injury. Haye later arranged a fight with

Tyson Fury Tyson Luke Fury (born 12 August 1988) is an English professional boxer. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the WBC title since defeating Deontay Wilder in 2020, and '' The Ring'' magazine title from 2020 to August 202 ...

at the same venue on 28 September 2013. However, a week before the fight, Haye sustained a cut to the head which required several stitches, so yet again the fight was postponed. It was originally rescheduled for 8 February 2014. However Haye dropped out of the fight on 17 November 2013 after shoulder surgery. Fury, meanwhile, believed that Haye was making excuses because he didn't want the fight, with Fury himself saying "I'm absolutely furious but in all honesty this is exactly what I expected. Everyone knows I was very suspicious when he pulled out the first time and this confirms to me that he's always been afraid of me and never wanted this fight." Aside from training camp expenses, Haye also cost Fury his positions in the world rankings including an IBF final eliminator bout which would have made him mandatory for a shot at the world title. Although doctors advised Haye to retire from boxing, he never officially announced his retirement.

Heavyweight comeback

In 2015, Haye switched trainers from Adam Booth to

Shane McGuigan Shane McGuigan is an Irish boxing coach. He is the son of former featherweight world champion Barry McGuigan. Notable fighters *Chantelle Cameron (2017–2019) *Luke Campbell (boxer), Luke Campbell (2018–2021) *Conrad Cummings (boxer), Conra ...

, son of former WBA featherweight champion Barry McGuigan.

Haye vs. de Mori

On 24 November 2015, Haye and his new promotion and management team, Salter Brothers Entertainment, announced his comeback fight against WBA #10 ranked heavyweight

Mark de Mori Mark de Mori (born 11 February 1982) is a Croatian professional boxer of Australian descent, who fights at heavyweight. Early life and amateur career De Mori grew up in the suburbs of Perth. He was supposedly Hearing loss, deaf until the age ...

. The fight took place on 16 January 2016 (marketed by Salter Brothers Entertainment as "Haye Day") at The O2 Arena in London, and was Haye's first fight in more than three years since stopping Chisora in 2012. Coming into the fight, Australian De Mori had lost only once in 33 career bouts and 26 of his 29 victories had come via KO, albeit against limited opposition. It was announced on 6 January 2016 that Haye and the Salter Brothers had struck a deal for the comeback fight to be shown on

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscripti ...

entertainment channel

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

, the largest non-PSB broadcaster in the UK and the channel's first ever live sport broadcast. In a world's first, Salter Brothers Entertainment also partnered with

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

to live-stream the event outside of the UK to a global audience for free. Haye came in at the highest weight of his career, appearing to have gained a lot of muscle mass since the lay off. He employed much less movement than in previous fights and came forward methodically, knocking out de Mori in 113 seconds of the first round. The broadcast of the fight on Dave was the most successful show in the history of the channel after achieving an audience of over 3 million viewers, experiencing a higher share of the UK audience than

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

and was only one per cent behind ITV. The event was the first ever boxing match to be shot and streamed live in 360 and VR via partnership between Salter Brothers Entertainment and IM360. A large number of celebrities were in attendance;

Sigma Sigma (; uppercase Σ, lowercase σ, lowercase in word-final position ς; grc-gre, σίγμα) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 200. In general mathematics, uppercase Σ is used a ...

performed an opening concert and A-lister guests ringside included Benedict Cumberbatch and Idris Elba.

Haye vs. Gjergjaj

On 26 January 2016, Haye announced his next fight, (marketed as "Haye Day 2") would take place on 21 May 2016 at The O2 in London in Haye's pursuit of reclaiming and unifying the heavyweight world titles. His opponent was the little known Swiss fighter Arnold Gjergjaj. During the press conference announcing the fight, Shannon Briggs confronted Haye calling him out. Haye did not agree to fight Briggs immediately but instead offered him the chance to fight on his undercard, promising that he would fight him next if he was victorious. Briggs agreed to this arrangement and stopped Emilio Ezequiel Zarate in the first round. Haye floored Gjergjaj with a right hand inside the first 30 seconds of the fight, and then proceeded drop him again with a left jab and a third time with a chopping right in the second round before the fight was waved off by the referee. For a second time Haye used free-to-air channel Dave to broadcast the fight, but this time it was promoted by Haye himself with Hayemaker Promotions and not by Salter Brothers Entertainment. The fight peaked at 2.5 million viewers. The fight was also a success on social media platforms

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

and

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

as #HayeDay overtook the #FACupFinal to become the UK top trend. Despite winning on the undercard, a fight between Briggs and Haye didn't materialize. Briggs continued to call out Haye, asking him to honour his end of the agreement. Briggs also chased Haye down in Brooklyn when both were in attendance for the Frampton vs. Santa Cruz fight. In October, Haye spoke out about the fight not taking place due to the fact that Briggs wanted the fight to be on ppv, "Because the fight can't happen on pay-per-view ... I like people thinking I'm running from him and ducking him because when I do get in the ring with him, which I really think I will do, I think it will make it a bigger fight. But at the moment the fight can't happen because he will only fight me if the fight is on pay-per-view. I would fight him on K terrestrial channelDAVE, but he doesn't want to do that."

Haye vs. Bellew

Following his win over

BJ Flores Benjamin "BJ" Flores (born January 29, 1979) is an American former professional boxer and a current boxing trainer. He challenged once for the WBC cruiserweight world title in 2016, and twice for interim world titles at cruiserweight and heavy ...

in October, WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew immediately hit out a verbal assault on rival Haye, who was ringside, repeating he's next. Referring to Haye as '

Sideshow Bob Robert Underdunk Terwilliger Jr., PhD, better known as Sideshow Bob, is a recurring character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Kelsey Grammer and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Bob is a sel ...

', Bellew carried on the verbal assault in the post-fight interview using profanity and taunting Haye, stating he has been 'conning the British public' since he announced his comeback. Bellew's promoter, Eddie Hearn, claimed the fight could take place at heavyweight or at cruiserweight for Bellew's WBC title. On 25 November 2016, Hearn announced on Twitter that Haye and Bellew would face each other in a heavyweight bout on 4 March 2017 at The O2 Arena, London. The fight was shown on Sky Box Office and was Bellew's first heavyweight fight. At the first press conference on 30 November, a fight broke out as Haye and Bellew went face to face and it appeared on the replay that Haye had managed to land a left hook on Bellew, leaving a mark. Both fighters were then separated before going their own ways. On 3 March 2017, Haye weighed 224.9 pounds, heavier than Bellew who came in at 213lbs, a career high. After months of trash talk back and forth the two met in the ring. The bout started as a stalemate until the sixth round, when Haye injured his

achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus ...

, causing him to fall twice. Bellew then took control of the fight as Haye opted to continue. Bellew knocked Haye down and out of the ropes late in the eleventh round. Haye managed to make it to his feet, but his corner threw in the towel, giving Bellew a TKO win. Bellew credited Haye for his bravery, while Haye refused to blame his injury and stated that Bellew was "by far the better fighter", though stated that he wanted a rematch. Haye was taken to the hospital following the bout but was released the next morning. It was revealed that Haye had ruptured his right achilles tendon and underwent surgery. At the time of stoppage, Bellew led on all three scorecards 96–93. With a 60–40 split of the £7 million purse, Haye earned £4.2 million while Bellew earned £2.8 million, his biggest purse by far. It was reported that the fight generated 890,000 buys on Sky Sports Box Office. Despite the loss, Haye was widely praised for his performance in fighting on whilst severely injured. As Kevin Mitchell of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' newspaper summed up of the fight:

Haye, staggering around the ring like a Saturday night drunk, went down swinging, his right ankle strapped in the ninth then unstrapped, his aged body sagging under every assault.....Even when thrashed through the ropes at the end, Haye clambered back and was willing to continue.... It will not seem so to him as he contemplates the fading of his days, but this was Haye's finest night."

Change of trainer

On 3 June 2017 Haye and McGuigan both announced that they would no longer work together. It was said that they had reached a mutual agreement and parted on good terms. Some rumours indicated that McGuigan had urged Haye to retire, which eventually caused the split. On 6 July, Haye announced that he had hired Cuban Ismael Salas as his new trainer. Salas, known for working with Jorge Linares,

Guillermo Rigondeaux Guillermo Rigondeaux Ortiz (; born 30 September 1980) is a Cuban professional boxer. He is a former world champion in two weight classes, having held the unified WBA (Super), WBO and ''Ring'' magazine super bantamweight titles between 2013 an ...

and Nonito Donaire, stated that he believed he could lead Haye to another world title reign.

Haye vs. Bellew II

On 12 July 2017, Haye confirmed that he had begun strengthening his ankle and he would slowly start training for his next fight which would likely take place in December 2017. On 24 July, negotiations had begun for a rematch between Haye and Bellew to take place in December 2017, although they were far from an agreement. Bellew made Haye an offer of his preferred purse, which would reportedly make the rematch worth around £20 million. On 3 August, Hearn stated a rematch between Bellew and Haye was 'virtually dead', due to both fighters believing they are the A-side and have the right to demand ring walks, poster position, changing rooms and split of purse. On 6 September, Hearn stated a deal could be made within seven days. According to Bellew's trainer, David Coldwell, both Haye and Bellew had held positive talks and looking more likely to agree to a fight, as long they stay on the same page and agree to the same terms. On 19 September, Haye agreed all the terms and tweeted Bellew to sign the contract. He said, "It's taken months of negotiating but teams have finally agreed all terms for Haye-Bellew 2. Will Bellew put pen to paper?" The fight was reported to take place on Sunday 17 December 2017. Hearn stated the fight was not a done deal, but he had hoped to confirm the fight within a week. Bellew replied the following day, tweeting, "I OBLIGE YOU @mrdavidhaye , happy? Now leave me alone with my family please. I'll see you soon enough!" The fight was officially confirmed on 29 September for the fight to take place at The O2 Arena in London. Bellew claimed the rematch wasn't personal anymore, just business and hoping to dedicate a win to his late brother-in-law, who had died in August. Haye stated that Bellew wouldn't win the lottery twice. Like the first fight, it was scheduled to be shown live on Sky Sports Box Office. On 20 November, it was reported that Haye had injured his arm and forced to pull out of the fight. In a statement, Haye said, "I am devastated to announce my much-anticipated rematch against Tony Bellew has been postponed until March 24 or May 5, subject to scheduling." It was believed that the injury occurred during a stair conditioning session. Bellew was said to be disappointed with Haye's announcement, but stated he may take an interim bout. The fight was rescheduled for 5 May 2018. Haye weighed 220.2 pounds, 4 pounds lighter than the first fight. Bellew also came in lighter at 210.4 pounds. Bellew knocked Haye down three times, eventually winning the fight via TKO in round five. Haye started the opening two rounds using his jab, leaving a mark around Bellew's right eye. As round three started, both boxers started getting closer and unloading power shots. As Haye started to step backwards around the ring, Bellew landed clean, dropping Haye. At this point it appeared Haye may have injured his ankle, with the Sky commentary team mentioning this, as well as the post-fight interviewer. Haye later denied he was injured. Bellew then dropped Haye again with a hard combination. Bellew came out cautiously in round four, still wary of Haye's power. In round five, both fighters traded punches, but it was a left hook from Bellew that dropped Haye for a third time. Haye managed to beat the count again, not long before Bellew started unloading a barrage of punches. With Haye against the ropes, referee Howard Foster stepped in at 2 minutes, 14 seconds, giving Bellew his second stoppage win over Haye. Immediately after the fight Haye congratulated Bellew on the win. Haye stated he would review the tapes and see what went wrong. According to CompuBox Stats, Haye landed 42 of 189 punches thrown (22%), only 6 being power punches and Bellew landed 70 of his 219 thrown (32%), with 34 being power punches. Both boxers earned a minimum purse of £2.5 million for the fight, which would likely increase based on TV revenue and PPV shares.

Final retirement

On 12 June 2018, Haye released a statement via social media announcing his retirement. In the statement, Haye spoke about his career from start to finish, all the injuries he suffered, rehab and also revealed he had

spinal surgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and pe ...

in March 2015.

Exhibition bout

Haye vs. Fournier

In August 2021, Haye announced that he would be making a one-fight comeback on 11 September 2021 in a bout against his friend, businessman Joe Fournier, on the undercard of the Triller

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program g ...

bout between Oscar De La Hoya and Vitor Belfort at the

Staples Center Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it w ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Haye explained in a statement on his website: "This whole fight between us came into existence when at dinner with a group in

Mykonos Mykonos (, ; el, Μύκονος ) is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. The island has an area of and rises to an elevation of at its highest point. There are 10,134 inhabitants according ...

we were asked who would win in a fight between us." He detailed that he was unhappy with Fournier being "deadly serious stating he would win in a fight today", and confirmed that he "remain happily retired from boxing, with no intentions to make a traditional comeback to challenge the monsters of the division but am fit and ready to prove my point against my overconfident billionaire buddy." Haye asserted that he will receive a larger payday from his bout with Fournier than his first

bout against Tony Bellew in 2017, calling it "crazy dough". On 31 August, it emerged that the fight would be classified as an exhibition bout due to a ruling by the California State Athletic Commission, thus the result of the fight would have no bearing on Haye or Fournier's professional records. On the night, Haye easily outboxed Fournier over 8 rounds, and knocked him down once, to earn a unanimous decision victory with scores of 79–72, 80–71 and 79–72. In his post-fight interview, he called out undefeated WBC and '' The Ring'' heavyweight champion

Promotional career

George Groves, Adam Booth, David Haye - Wembley 2011-11-05

On 20 January 2017, Haye announced he would combine his Hayemaker promotions with

Richard Schaefer Richard Schaefer is a Swiss professional boxing promoter. He was the former CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, which he left in 2014. In 2016 he founded his own boxing promotional company Ringstar Sports. Biography Schaefer grew up in Switzerland. H ...

's Ringstar Sport to create Hayemaker Ringstar, which would be based in the UK and rival Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Sport and Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions. They would also promote shows in the US. Shaefer stated in a press release that he had intended to promote in the UK for some years and spoke of his excitement to be in partnership with Haye. At an official press conference on 12 July 2017, Hayemaker Ringstar announced they had agreed a TV rights deal with the biggest multichannel broadcaster in the UK,

UKTV UKTV Media Limited, simply known as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 throug ...

, for entertainment channel Dave. The deal would be for 3 years which would show five fight nights per year. Hayemaker Ringstar also introduced its latest signings, Olympics silver medalist, heavyweight Joe Joyce, Olympian

Qais Ashfaq Qais Ashfaq (born 10 March 1993) is a British professional boxer. As an amateur, Ashfaq competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics as well as winning a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Amateur career He won the 2012 and 2014 Amateur Boxi ...

, European champion

Willy Hutchinson William Hutchinson (born 4 August 1998) is a Scottish professional boxer. As an Amateur boxing, amateur he won a gold medal at the 2016 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships, 2016 Youth World Championships in the middleweight division. Amateur ...

and former 10-time world kickboxing champion Michael 'Venom' Page. On 6 September 2017, an official announcement was made for the first boxing event which would take place at

Indigo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', ...

, The O2 Arena in London on 20 October 2017. Haye confirmed that Joe Joyce would headline the card, making his debut against experienced former WBO Asia Pacific champion Ian Lewison (12–3, 8 KOs).

Media career

Haye created his own documentary reality show, ''David Haye versus'', under his production company Hayemaker Productions, which was broadcast on Sky 1 from 28 to 29 June 2011. It featured him training and in conversation with

Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and ''An Idiot Abroad'' ...

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

, Michael McIntyre,

Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a British MC and rapper. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B. D ...

and Mickey Rourke. In November 2012, he took part in the twelfth series of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'', in which he finished third.

Personal life

Haye lives in the

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

area of London. He married make-up artist Natasha in 2008, with whom he has a son named Cassius (named after Cassius Clay). After eight years of marriage, they divorced in 2016. Haye is a fan of

Millwall FC Millwall Football Club () is a professional football club in Bermondsey, South East London, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name d ...

. In addition to being a native British citizen, he gained Northern Cypriot citizenship in 2010, but later relinquished it. His training camp was based in Ozanköy from 2005 until his split with trainer

, and his former training site now serves as an amateur boxing gym. He sometimes wore the Northern Cypriot flag on his shorts alongside the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, and Jamaican flags. Haye became a

in 2014, stating, "I watched a TV documentary about how animals are farmed, killed and prepared for us to eat. I saw all those cows and pigs and realised I couldn't be a part of it any more. It was horrible. I did some research to make sure I could still obtain enough protein to fight and, once satisfied that I could, I stopped. I'll never go back." He launched his own range of vegan protein powder later that year. In 2016, he appeared in a promotional video by

PETA Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, a ...

called ''David Haye: Vegan for Animals''.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine

Honours

Haye was selected for the final 10 shortlist for the

2010 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award The 2010 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, held on 19 December, was the 57th presentation of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards. Awarded annually by the BBC, the main titular award honours an individual's British sporting achie ...

for his performances against John Ruiz and Audley Harrison.

Professional boxing record

Exhibition boxing record

Television viewership

International

Germany

UK pay-per-view bouts

References

External links

* *
David Haye profile
at Cyber Boxing Zone {{DEFAULTSORT:Haye, David 1980 births English people of Jamaican descent English male boxers Black British sportspeople People from Bermondsey Boxers from Greater London World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Council champions World Boxing Organization champions World cruiserweight boxing champions Boxers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for England Living people World heavyweight boxing champions AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists The Ring (magazine) champions Light-heavyweight boxers I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) participants People educated at Bacon's College