Haye Stops Mormeck, Vows Not To Defend Titles

English cruiserweight David Haye got up off the deck in the fourth to stop World Boxing Association/World Boxing council cruiserweight champion Jean-Marc Mormeck in the 7th round tonight to win to capture the WBA/WBC cruiserweight title. Afterwards, Haye said that he wouldn’t defend the titles, instead he’d be moving up to the heavyweight division to pursue a career at that weight class. Haye was knocked down with a powerful left-right combination in the fourth round. However, Mormeck was unable to finish Haye, who was essentially out on his feet for the entire round, mostly clinching Mormeck until the round ended.

In the early rounds, Haye had little trouble landing his powerful hooks and uppercuts, as Mormeck constantly came forward directly into Haye’s power zone, and was punished repeatedly by huge bombs. Mormeck, 35, landed his own power shots, tagging Haye often with hooks whenever Haye stayed in too close to the shorter Mormeck, which turned out to be often. Up until the 6th round, it was anybodies fight, as both fighters unleashed bombs, trading shot for shot. However, in the sixth round Haye began to take over, hitting Mormeck with blistering hooks and uppercuts. By this time, Haye had completely recovered from the earlier knockdown and was looking remarkably fresh compared to his earlier state.

In the seventh round, Haye connected with a stunning right hand, and then followed it up with another right, which dropped Mormeck like a ton of bricks to the canvas. Mormeck was able to make it to his feet, just barely, but the referee decided he shouldn’t continue because he looked totally out of it.