David Haye is a British former professional boxer who held world titles at cruiserweight and heavyweight. He retired in 2018 after successive defeats to arch-rival Tony Bellew.
Haye's first success at world level came in 2008 with a sensational victory over cruiserweight king Jean-Marc Mormeck to win the WBA, WBC, Ring Magazine and lineal titles.
From there, Haye continued his dominance at 200-pounds and unified the division with a stunning second-round stoppage win against Enzo Maccarinelli, adding the WBO strap in the process to confirm his status as the best cruiserweight in the world.
After cleaning up the division, Haye moved up to heavyweight and in his second fight, he challenged Nikalei Valuev for the WBA world heavyweight championship.
Billed as David vs Goliath, Haye outpointed the Russian giant - who weighed 316-pounds - to become the first British heavyweight to win a world title since Lennox Lewis.
Back-to-back successful defences followed before a lopsided defeat to the hands of Wladimir Klitschko in a unification bout. The Londoner is the only British fighter to have unified the cruiserweight division and won a heavyweight world title - and the second boxer to achieve this is after American legend Evander Holyfield.
He tasted defeats on his record four times with Carl Thompson being the first to beat him inside the distance for the famous Lonsdale title. His defeat to Klitschko happened in 2011 while his back-to-back defeats against Bellew took place in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
During his time as an amateur and professional, Haye was trained for most of his career by Adam Booth. After initially retiring following defeat to Klitschko in 2011, Haye returned to the ring and fought Chisora in a grudge match.
The British Boxing Board of Control condemned the fight and threatened to ban any license-holder involved in the fight.
At the post-press conference between Chisora and Vitali Klitschko, the former entered a brawl with Haye, who punched him in the face with a bottle of beer in his hand before swinging at him with a camera tripod which hit Booth instead.
Promoter Frank Warren replaced the BBBofC with the Luxembourg Boxing Federation for the bout. Haye would win an intense bout via stoppage in the fifth-round at the Boleyn Ground.
David Haye
Haye would not return to the ring for four years because of occurring injuries. In 2016, Haye sported a new look and unveiled Hayemaker 2.0 with Shane McGuigan as his trainer and Channel Dave as his broadcaster.
He had two comeback fights against Australian Mark DeMori and Arnold Gjergjaj and both ended inside the first and second round, respectively. An injured Haye lost to Bellew in his next fight which saw him replace McGuigan with Ismael Salas for the rematch, where he got stopped in the fifth round.
Haye is now a manager and promoter. Foe-turned-friend Chisora is his highest profile fighter in the Hayemaker stable and was ringside during his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk.
Haye's most famous win to the casual market is against Valuev - otherwise known as the 'Beast from the East'. While Valuev was Russian, his second home was Germany and that is where the showdown took place with Nuremberg hosting the heavyweight clash.
Haye would win to become heavyweight champion, outpointing and wobbling Valuev - boxing's tallest ever champion - in a memorable final round. While it was the fight which saw him crossover to the celebrity world, many boxing fans still regard his performance against Mormeck as a career-best for the Briton.
Going into the contest, the Briton was a huge underdog and because of a shock-defeat to Thompson in 2005, many considered Haye to have a 'glass jaw'.
Challenging for the WBA, WBC, Ring Magazine and lineal titles in Mormeck's backyard - Paris - Haye would climb off the canvas to produce a thrilling comeback to end proceedings in the fifth.
His biggest heavyweight clash came in a unification against Klitschko in 2011. Despite wearing a t-shirt with the heads of both Klitschko's, Haye was unsuccessful in his bid to rejuvenate the heavyweight division.
The fight failed to ignite with Klitschko taking control of the fight to win via unanimous decision in Germany. Haye blamed a broken toe for his underwhelming performance, something which got ridiculed by the media.
Haye defeated Chisora one year later in a domestic dust-up which gathered a lot of momentum because of their brawl in Munich.
The build-up had seen Haye defending his actions in Germany when talking to Kay Burley. He said: "If someone burgles your house, and you knock them out, are you gonna apologize for knocking them out?
"No you're not, you're gonna stomp on their head, just like any other normal person would."
The build-up was met with more anticipation at the opening press conference with a steel fence in between of the fighters to ensure they did their fighting in the ring.
In 2017, Haye faced Bellew. His vision was clear: take out Bellew, beat Anthony Joshua and end Matchroom Boxing.
Appearing to look unfazed by the challenge presented, Haye was seen in videos relaxing in Miami ahead of the first bout alongside McGuigan and rapper Dizzee Rascal.
Days prior to the fight, photos emerged of Haye in Germany with a doctor, sending fears over pulling out with an injury.
The fight would happen despite concerns over the health of Haye. It would end in agony for Haye with his trainer throwing the towel in the penultimate round to save his fighter from any more punishment after rupturing his achilles in round five.
Keen to avenge his defeat, Haye and Bellew had a rematch at London's O2. It ended in another loss for Haye, who called time on his career 48 hours afterwards.
His reported net worth is an estimated £16million. Haye got his career-best payday against Klitschko in 2011, reportedly earning around £10million.
Two fights against Bellew has also seen the Bermondsey brawler receive more than £8million, while an all-British clash against Audley Harrison bagged him a cool £4.8million, according to the BBC.
Haye also endorses Park Plaza hotels and held his first event as a promoter under Hayemaker Promotions in 2008. Haye has previously promoted Olympian Joe Joyce, exciting prospect Willy Hutchinson and British champion Matty Askins.
Since retirement, Haye continues to manage and promote Chisora in association with Matchroom Boxing. Their biggest fight together was the epic rematch with Dillian Whyte in 2018 and they are now preparing for Usyk in 2020.
The 39-year-old also does punditry work for BT Sport, Sky Sports and BBC and in 2014, he launched his vegan protein powder range. In 2020, Haye launched the Black Mask Company, which offers reusable face masks.
He also had starred in Amazon's David v Goliath - a show which follows Haye around as he learns to become a professional poker player.
Haye's only marriage was to Natasha Haye, which was an eight-year relationship before they divorced in 2016. He and his ex-spouse have one son, who is called Cassius in tribute to Muhammad Ali's original name Cassius Clay.
Since retiring, Haye has invested a lot of time in supporting his son, who is aspiring to become a professional tennis player.
David Haye
It helps that Haye is good friends with British legend Sir Andy Murray - a three-time Grand Slam winner - and has lent on his experience to give his son tips on the psychology of the sport.
Speaking about his son, Haye, prior to his defeat to Bellew - told the Guardian: "He's not interested in boxing at all. He's smart. My dream is to win the world heavyweight title again. My son's dream is to win Wimbledon - I'd love that."
Haye was introduced to boxing at the age of 10 by father Deron, who took him to Fitzroy Lodge amateur boxing club. At the age of 18, Haye competed in the 1999 World Amateur Boxing Championships and defeated ABA champion at the time - Courtney Fry - in the light-heavyweight tournament.
Despite his success, Haye would miss out on making the 2000 Olympic Games after losing to Michael Simms in the next round - a result deemed as controversial to many, who believed Haye had done enough to beat the American.
In 2001, at the AIBA World Championships in Belfast, heavyweight Haye delivered some of his finest performances as an amateur and reached the final of the competition but fell short to Cuban Odlanier Solis.
Haye became the first British fighter to reach the tournament's final. His four-year amateur career came to an end with defeat to Jason Douglas in the quarter-finals of the Commonwealth Games in 2002. Haye left the amateurs with a record of 83-12.
David Haye is not worried about Derek Chisora stepping into the ring with Tyson Fury on Saturday and believes his old rival fully deserves the “big, juicy paycheck” coming his way.
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