David Deron Haye (born 13 October 1980) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 2002 and 2018. He held the unified, and the Ring magazine cruiserweight championship from 2007 to 2008; and the WBA heavyweight title from 2009 to 2011. At regional level, he held the European cruiserweight title from 2005 to 2007. As an amateur, he was the first British boxer to reach the final of the World Championships, where he won a silver medal in 2001.
Haye was ranked by BoxRec as the world's No.1 cruiserweight from 2005 to 2007, and was also ranked within ten best in 2003 and 2004. Along with Evander Holyfield 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 June 2026, BoxRec ranks Haye as the greatest British cruiserweight of all time and the 52nd greatest overall British fighter.
Haye founded his own boxing promotional firm, Hayemaker Promotions, in 2008. He became 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 area of London on 13 October 1980. He grew up in Bermondsey for most of his childhood, and attended Bacon's College in Rotherhithe.
Amateur career At the age of eighteen, Haye competed in the light-heavyweight division at the 1999 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Houston, Texas. He knocked out then-ABA light-heavyweight champion Courtney Fry, 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 Championships in Belfast, Haye fought in the heavyweight division where he defeated Sebastian Köber to reach the final. In this bout he managed to score a standing eight count against Odlanier Solís, but was later stopped by the Cuban in round three to earn a silver medal.
Haye's claimed amateur record was 83–13 though his wins are likely half that amount and he has been found to have a few more losses.
Professional career Early career 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 (KO), the most notable being a fourth-round KO of Lolenga Mock, 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 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 promoter Frank Maloney 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, 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. Haye admitted he was taking "a crazy step up" when he fought Bonin at Wembley Arena. 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 (28–1, 21 KOs) met in an all-British world cruiserweight title fight, in the early hours of 9 March 2008 at O2 Arena 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 produced a pullout special on the match, which was widely billed as the biggest all-British bout since Chris Eubank 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 in London on 15 November 2008, winning via TKO in the fifth round.Round-By-Round: Haye Vs. Barrett. Fighthype (15 November 2008). Retrieved on 26 January 2013.
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, WBO, IBF, and IBO champion Wladimir Klitschko agreed to fight Haye the same date in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Haye pulled out of the fight with a back injury.Wladimir Klitschko replaces injured David Haye with Ruslan Chagaev for 20 June fight – ESPN. Sports.espn.go.com (6 June 2009). Retrieved on 11 October 2010.
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, Germany. Haye's former trainer Adam Booth 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 (MD) with scores of 114–114, 116–112, and 116–112.. BoxingNews365. Retrieved on 17 June 2011. Haye is the first and currently only boxer in the history of the sport to be seven stone 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, which saw Haye receive a payday of £2.1 million.
Haye vs. Ruiz
On 26 January 2010, former WBA champion John Ruiz was announced as Haye's first title defence on 3 April at the M.E.N Arena in Manchester, 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, 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, after claiming their recent challengers Eddie Chambers and Chris Arreola 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 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 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 on 2 July 2011.
Haye vs. Wladimir Klitschko