David Haye and Evander Holyfield are two of the most celebrated cruiserweight-turned-heavyweight world champions, alongside current ruler Oleksandr Usyk.
In 2008, Brit Haye was regarded as the best cruiserweight on the planet after beating the likes of Enzo Maccarinelli and Jean-Marc Mormeck. He moved up the following year and won a title in the banner division before going on to face the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Derek Chisora and in his final two fights, Tony Bellew, before retiring in 2018.
Holyfield, meanwhile, reigned as the undisputed cruiserweight champion in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s and fought a legendary list of names including Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis and Hasim Rahman.
Both men also faced the Russian giant Nikolai Valuev. Haye beat him in 2009 to become a world champion, while Holyfield lost to him the year before.
When asked by The Ring Magazine about his the hardest puncher he ever faced, Valuev didn’t hesitate to name the two-weight undisputed champion Holyfield.
“He was one of my toughest fights. He kept hitting me to the ribs and fractured one of the ribs. I couldn’t breathe properly for a month. It was very unorthodox, it was a punch up close, where he kept throwing hooks on the inside. It was very hard to defend against.”
Valuev turned professional in Germany in October 1993 and retired after his loss to David Haye with a record of 50 wins from 52 fights, and at 7 feet tall and 320 lbs, remains the tallest world champion of all time.
