As you know, the audience loves charismatic athletes. This is explained quite easily, because almost every one of us loves shows and shocking, especially before the start of boxing fights. And therefore, the modern boxing world is partly not only a brilliant technique, knockouts, but also a lot of talk on the eve of the fight, sometimes even insulting the opponent. Of course, the moral side of this issue remains open, but this is not about that, but about the man who made his contribution to the history of boxing. And his name is David Haye.
British star
The future champion appeared on our land on October 13, 1980. David Haye was born in the city, which is considered the ancestor of boxing, namely in London, where to this day this type of martial arts is considered one of the cult.
For many guys, boxing starts on the street, and David was no exception. The clashes in street fights motivated him to go to the boxing gym and start training.
Amateur performances
David Haye is not a boxer whose amateur career can be called enchanting and very successful. In 1999, he took part in the world championship in boxing among amateurs, which was held in the city of Houston. However, he did not achieve any significant result there. In 2001, the fighter goes into the heavy weight category (before that he played light heavy) and won the silver medal at the World Championships in Northern Ireland. By the way, he then lost in Belfast to only one person - the Cuban Solis.
Going to the pros
Always impudent, ambitious and assertive, David Haye set foot on the professional ring for the first time on December 8, 2002. The debut turned out to be very successful, because he managed to knock out his opponent Tony Booth. Over the next nine fights, the Briton does not lose and keeps his record perfect. But already on September 10, 2004 he was defeated for the first time in the pro, losing in the battle for the title of best fighter of the first heavy weight according to IBO Karl Thompson.
This defeat motivated the assertive London boxer, and three months after the defeat, he knocked out Vampreu Semshira. David won all of his next fights ahead of schedule. His desire for the top of Olympus was so great that sometimes he performed very often, having a break between fights of less than a month. In 2005, the British defeated Alexander Gurov and became the best boxer according to EBU.
He confirms his status in a fight with Lasse Johansen in March 2006, and also in July of that year in a duel with Ishmael Abdul.
The year 2006 was also successful for Hay. He managed to defeat Jacobbe Fragomeni and become the official contender for the WBC world title. In April 2007, David takes over Tomas Bonin. The fight took place in a heavy weight limit.
Absolute Championship
In November 2007, the proud Briton holds a very important fight in his career with the Frenchman Jean-Marc Mormeck. The fight took place for the titles of WBC and WBA, and Haye took them for himself. Just six months later, David meets in the ring with Enzo Maccarinelli and wins his WBO belt. This victory allowed Hay to become the absolute ruler of the first heavy weight.
Heavy fighting
The transition to heavy weight occurred in November 2008. It was then that Hay defeated Monty Barrett, after which he did not enter the ring for two years.
November 2010 was marked by another enchanting duel - “David Hay - Valuev”. The fight lasted all 12 rounds, following which the victory was awarded to the Briton. Actually, the result was driven by one successful attack carried out by Hay in the final round. Thanks to this, David became the WBA champion.
The Briton was able to defend his title twice. The first time in a fight with Johnny Ruiz in April 2010, and the second in November of that year in a duel with Audley Harrison.
Loss of champion title
July 2011 was the month when one of the most anticipated fights of the year took place, namely, David Haye - Klitschko.
In this duel, several belts were at stake at once: IBF, WBO, IBO from the Ukrainian side and WBA from the British side. The whole battle was dictated by a giant from Ukraine. His jab became a serious obstacle for Hay, who was never able to get close to Vladimir. Therefore, the victory of Klitschko on points, as a result of which David lost his title, was a logical conclusion to the fight.
Family status
The life of a former champion is not just boxing. David Haye is married and has a son. An interesting fact: in September 2010, the boxer was able to obtain another citizenship, in addition to the British. He became a full member of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.