Haye Dethrones WBA Champ Valuev

Challenger David Haye did a lot of trash talking before Saturday night's clash with WBA champion Nikolai Valuev. In the end, the smaller man backed up his words.

Overcoming disadvantages of 98 pounds in weight, and nine inches in height, as well as an undisclosed injury to his sledgehammer right hand, the London-born Haye abandoned his power-punching approach for a slick boxing style on the way to dethroning the 7-foot "Russian Giant" by a 12-round majority decision before a packed arena in Nuremberg, Germany.

Haye wobbled the ex-champion with a looping left hook and appeared to have him in danger of going down in the final round, but Valuev held on, only to lose 116-112 on the cards of Stefano Carozza and Tom Miller. Juan M. Garcia Reyes had it even at 114-114.

FanHouse scored it 115-114, for Haye.

"When I was a little baby, I said that I would be the heavyweight champion of the world. And today, my dream came true," said Haye, 29, who improved to 23-1, with 21 knockouts. It was his 10th consecutive win.

"I fought the biggest heavyweight champion in history and I was very strong. I hit him with big shots," said Haye, who weighed 218 pounds to Valuev's 316. "But only in the last round did I appear to hurt and stun him."

In victory, Haye became only the second former cruiserweight (200) champion to win a heavyweight crown.


Evander Holyfield, who lost a disputed decision to Valuev (50-2, 34 KOs) in December, was the first former cruiserweight champion to win a heavyweight title, having stopped Buster Douglas in three rounds in October of 1990 to earn the WBC, WBA and IBF titles.

Haye also joined Bob Fitzimmons, Lennox Lewis, Herbie Hide, Henry Akinwande, and, Frank Bruno as the sixth heavyweight champ from England.

Haye, whose only loss was by fifth-round knockout by by 40-year-old Carl Thompson in September 2004, kept his distance over the long haul, mostly circling to his left to stay out of range of Valuev's right hand.

"I damaged my [right] hand in I think the second or third round, so I couldn't throw too many right hands," said Haye, who had knocked out eight of his past 10 rivals. "But I tried to win it extensively with my left hand. My hand was very tender and very sore, and that's why I used it very irregularly."

Valuev failed to effectively cut off the ring and Haye was able to jump in and out with volleys.

"I realized that I could beat him from right when I signed the contract. I knew that I could be the best heavyweight in the world. Today, I found a strategy," said Haye, a former WBA, WBC and WBO cruiserweight champion.

"I didn't train to do that. I trained to be more aggressive," Haye said. "But I damaged my hand, so I had to take my foot off of the gas, and win it cleverly, use my head and win rounds. It worked out."

Valuev, 36, was ridiculed before the fight as a "circus freak" and "a robot" by Haye, who was more respectful of his opponent afterward.

"I'm a guy who says what I think. I think what I say. Sometimes, it upsets people, but I've got full respect for Valuev. I know that I didn't show him any respect before the fight," said Haye, who stands 6-3.

"But after it, he showed that he can take some big shots, " said Haye. "He's a very, very strong man. I believe that he'll win back the title another time."

Valuev had won four straight bouts since April 2007, when Ruslan Chagaev won a majority decision to dethrone him as WBA champion.

Valuev regained the crown in February 2008, following a unanimous decision over Sergey Lyakovich, and defended it with subsequent victories over former world champion John Ruiz and Holyfield.

On the undercard, Ruiz (44-8-1) earned his 30th knockout in the seventh round against Germany's Adnan Serin (19-11-1, seven KOs). In victory, Ruiz, 37, rebounded from his unanimous decision loss to Valuev in August, and may have set up an opportunity to face Haye.

Also, rising heavyweight Alexander Frenkel of Germany rose to 21-0 with a first-round stoppage of Kelvin Davis (24-10-3, 17 KOs). The knockout was the 17th for Frenkel, who is 24.

In another undercard bout, Swedish-born heavyweight Robert Helenius improved to 10-0 by scoring his sixth knockout and his fifth straight stoppage over Germany's Taras Bidenko (26-4, 12 KOs).

Nicknamed "The Nordic Nightmare," the 6-7, 249-pound Helenius, who is 25, next faces former world champion Lamon Brewster (35-5 30 KOs) on Dec. 5.