David Haye has fought several of the biggest names in the sport, making it difficult to choose which of his opponents was the finest.
David Haye’s career was divided into multiple phases, beginning with his cruiserweight years. At the age of 22, he entered the professional ranks in December 2002, and within six years, he had emerged as the undisputed 200-pound world champion.
He was rated as the world’s greatest cruiserweight from 2005 to 2007 and held three of the four major world titles in addition to the Ring magazine belt.
Before turning pro at heavyweight in 2008, he defeated fighters like Enzo Maccarinelli and undisputed champion Jean-Marc Mormeck at that period. After defending against John Ruiz and winning his first world title from WBA champion Nikolai Valuev, he lost to Wladimir Klitschko in 2011.
After that, he fought Derek Chisora, whom he stopped in the fifth round. He then retired, returned in 2015, and lost twice in a row to Tony Bellew in 2017 and 2018, which put an end to his career a second time.
In an interview with The Ring, he divided Valuev and Klitschko as the best fighters he had ever faced.
“One of those two, Valuev or Wladimir Klitschko. It would have been wonderful if they had battled. I would have loved to witness Wladimir’s response to someone much larger than himself.
He always appeared to be physically superior to other individuals. They are the two hardest; it’s a blend of the two, and they were so much stronger than me. Against Valuev, I was able to carry out my plan much more successfully.
I think the outcome might have been different if I had fought Wladimir the same evening that I had fought Valuev. I was aware that wasn’t my best self. Between Wladimir and Valuev, it’s quite close. I beat one and lost to one, but both fights happened at different points in my life, which makes it sound absurd. Many things had changed prior to the two fights. I’d say 50/50 to be fair to both of them.
Not only does Haye have memories of their career to look back on, but Bellew has also talked about his favourite bout.