David Haye had a decorated boxing career but still regrets never having shared the ring with one man.
Bermondsey-born Haye fought from 2002 to 2018 and took just five years after turning professional to become the unified cruiserweight champion when he defeated Jean-Marc Mormeck in 2007.
He added the WBO title to his waist in the following fight with a victory over Enzo Maccarinelli and then moved up to heavyweight to fight the towering Russian Nikolai Valuev, whom he beat via majority decision in 2009.
Wins over Audley Harrison and John Ruiz followed, before he was soundly beaten over 12 rounds by the unified champion Wladimir Klitschko.
Injury plagued the later part of Haye’s career, though he did manage to have two fights with Toney Bellew in 2017 and 2018.
The first saw injury strike again when Haye ruptured his right Achilles tendon, though he fought on bravely until he was stopped, and the second also ended in a technical knockout after Haye was put down several times and eventually the referee stepped in.
Speaking on Froch on Fighting, ‘The Hayemaker’ revealed that he would have liked to have taken on Vitali Klitschko, the brother of the man who dethroned him in 2011, but is glad he never had to face cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia.
“I really enjoyed [Vitali’s] style. I fought Wladimir but he was very defensive, but Vitali came to fight and he would have given me the opportunities because he wanted to chin me where Wladimir wanted to beat me on points so that was the fight I always wanted.”
Vitali was a two-time world champion who lost to Lennox Lewis in 2003 but ended his career in 2012 with a total of 15 world title fight victories. The Ukrainian then served as the mayor of Kyiv and head of the Kyiv City State Administration until 2022.
