Haye’s toe broken and his future in boxing unknown

In what Klitschko claimed was ‘a victory for boxing’ after some of Haye’s distasteful pre-fight trash talk, the Ukrainian enjoyed a resounding points victory at a soaking Imtech Arena to add Haye’s WBA title to his own IBF and WBO belts.

Haye immediately cited a broken toe for his uninspiring performance – showing the swollen digit to Klitschko and media in the post-fight press conference – but admits even taking that into account it is difficult to see where he goes now.

The Londoner had planned to retire in October after one more fight. Klitschko is not keen on a rematch and Haye hardly demanded one. The other Klitschko brother, Vitali, has other plans and fights Tomasz Adamek in September.

Crucially, Haye has no bargaining power with the Klitschkos because he has no title and is coming off a second career defeat and there is nobody else of real interest for him to fight instead.

“Listen, will he want to give me a rematch when I’m 100 per cent fit? I don’t know,” Haye said. “If not, then I don’t know. I really don’t know. I’d love him to give me a rematch.

“He said he can knock me out and I’d love him to give it a go.

“If he couldn’t knock me out on one leg, pretty much, then how about when I’m fit?

“I think it would be interesting. I think I hurt him more than he hurt me but that’s boxing.

“I’d love to knock him out but it wasn’t happening in there for me, unfortunately.”

As for his deadline of hanging up the gloves on October 13 – his 31st birthday – Haye hinted for the first time he could fight on.

“I’m not making any decisions yet on retirement,” he said.

As a fight which had revived interest in the flagging heavyweight division the event was hugely disappointing. The tactical battle and nuances were interesting but the travelling fans and huge mainstream television audience will have been left cold by the scrap.

“I’m gutted I wasn’t able to do what I needed to do out there (because of the injury),” Haye said.

“I feel we’ve put heavyweight boxing back on the map because this fight got so many people excited. Wladimir’s had more than 50 fights and this is the first one to have reached out to everybody and I think I played my part in that.

“Postponing was not an option. I pulled out of a fight with Wladimir two years ago and doing it again was not an option. No matter what happened in training I couldn’t pull out. I genuinely believed I could win the fight.”

For Haye, though, it had been the opportunity to establish a real legacy in the heavyweight division as the man to end Klitschko’s dominance. But after talking the talk he failed to walk the walk at a rain-sodden outdoor football stadium, unable or unwilling to produce the all-out savagery he had crudely promised.

Instead he boxed on the backfoot, using his advantage in speed and reflexes to avoid most of Klitschko’s one-dimensional shots. In return he landed occasional winging right hands over the top and, after answering some questions about his own chin, he asked some of his own with an excellent 12th-round assault.

Haye was the clear betting underdog, conceding three inches in height, two stone in weight, years in experience and home advantage against a 35-year-old who had reigned since his last knockout defeat seven years ago.

He was roared on by around 10,000 British fans among the approximately 40,000-strong crowd – who let themselves down by booing and jeering the Ukrainian national anthem.

A cagey opening saw Haye down from a slip as Klitschko jabbed from distance. With the rain pouring once more, Haye was not bothering to jab, instead staying on the back foot and making brief but aggressive forays.

Haye remained open to the jab but had his own success with a right over the top early in the third and the same shot, doubled up, before the session ended. Klitschko fired back with Haye against the ropes.

The fifth was laborious until a Klitschko straight right landed cleanly on Haye’s chin and the Londoner did well to swallow it and carry on, recovering admirably and landing a right of his own soon after. Haye had boasted he could change tactics on the spur of the moment but he never did as a dull sixth was punctuated only by him slipping on the canvas for the fourth time in the bout.

Referee Genaro Rodriguez docked Klitschko a point for pushing Haye down in the seventh. Klitschko continued to show more attacking intent over the course of the rounds, edging the ninth as Haye relied on reflexes and right hands alone. A right from Klitschko at the end of that round seemed to hurt Haye slightly.

Haye landed a right hand in close then fell yet again in the 10th. When he went down again easily in the 11th, referee Rodriguez gave him a count and therefore effectively docked him a point.

Haye edged the final round but his overall performance was sub-standard as he lost a wide decision with scores of 117-109, 118-108 and 116-110.