On this day in 2009: Haye takes WBA heavyweight title from Valuev

David Haye gave away almost 100 pounds in Nuremberg and became the fourth Briton to win a major heavyweight world title.

David Haye won the WBA heavyweight title 17 years ago today, beating Nikolai Valuev by majority decision at the Nuremberg Arena in Germany. The result made Haye the fourth Briton to win a major heavyweight title, after Bob Fitzsimmons, Lennox Lewis and Frank Bruno.

The fight was billed as David vs Goliath. Haye weighed in at 217 pounds, almost 100 pounds less than the champion, who arrived with a record of 50-1 and 34 knockouts. No boxer before Haye had won a world title fight while seven stone or more lighter than his opponent. He also became only the second former cruiserweight champion to win a heavyweight title, after Evander Holyfield.

Haye jabbed, circled and countered Valuev's misses across 12 rounds. One judge scored it 114-114, while the other two had it 116-112 for Haye.

Haye had unified the WBA, WBC and WBO cruiserweight titles, a run that included a win over Enzo Maccarinelli, before moving up and knocking out Monte Barrett in November 2008. A planned fight with Wladimir Klitschko fell through when Haye pulled out with a back injury. Before facing Valuev, Haye said: "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."

The fight drew 469,000 buys on Sky Sports Box Office, and Valuev retired afterwards. Haye made his first defence against former champion John Ruiz at the M.E.N Arena in Manchester on 3 April 2010, knocking him down four times before stopping him in the ninth round. Haye held the WBA title until 2011.

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