By Adam Fillingham: May I get this straight from the beginning. This is not an article bashing or putting down David Haye, this is an honest and unbiased opinion from one British boxing fan.

David Haye was the undisputed Cruiserweight king from 2007 to 2008 picking up the WBC, WBA, WBO and Ring magazine titles against French legend Jean Marc Mormeck and Welsh giant Enzo Maccarinelli. Haye knocked both champions out in style. In his first world title bout he got up off the floor in the forth round to knock out his French foe in the seventh.

His bout with Maccarinelli was much more special. Many fans and experts thought the fight was going to be a gruelling twelve round battle but in fact Haye was the man who took charge. In two short rounds a dazed Maccarinelli got up off the canvas only for the bout to be stopped by referee John Keane regardless. This would be Haye’s final fight in the cruiserweight division. Instead of sticking around and fighting the likes of Steve Cunningham and Tomasz Adamek the “Hayemaker” moved up the heavyweight division to take on the infamous Klitschko brothers.

David had fought at this weight once before against the experienced but limited Polish champion Tomasz Bonin. Haye dispatched of Bonin in under a round making a statement to many around the globe.

Haye’s second bout in the division was against a “past his best” but still very durable American. His name is Monte Barrett. Barrett had lost three of his last six coming into this one but had defeated the tough Tye Fields in his last outing. David came in the heavy favourite and showed his class in a one sided fifth round TKO over the experienced American. The Hayemaker was about to move on to bigger and better things.

After an easy outing against Monte Barratt, Haye was given the chance to fight both of the Klitschko brothers but after contract negotiations failing and injuries, David decided to take on the mammoth seven foot Russian world champion Nikolay Valuev. Valuev had only been defeated once before as a professional against the tough Ruslan Chageav in fifty one fights and held the WBA world title. Haye had to be cautious and not get caught by the giant Russian. In an amazing show of boxing brains the Hayemaker defeated Valuev in a twelve round majority decision by out working and out thinking his bigger foe.

Two easy defences of his WBA title commenced as Haye took on the tough but out of prime John Ruiz (his mandatory) and the European champion, fellow Brit, Audley Harrison. David knocked both fighters out inside the distance (Ruiz in nine and Harrison in three) leaving many wondering when he would take a step up in class and fight the division rulers, Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko.

After months of negotiations the fight was finally on. David Haye Vs Wladimir Klitschko was going to hit our screens on the second of July. Haye promised this and that, building up the fight , making fans very excited about the heavyweight division for the first time in many years. Then the first bell rang.

Klitschko fought the perfect fight, dominating his British counterpart and barely losing a round. Haye did not do what he promised his fans, his critics and himself. He said he would “decapitate” Klitschko but in the end he was dominated by a better fighter. The Hayemaker acted like a businessman not a fighter.

On the thirteenth of October 2011 David Haye hung up his gloved and retired from the sport as it was unlikely the Brit would get an immediate rematch with one of the Klitschko brothers. I and many fans of the sport and David himself were disappointed he didn’t make a comeback but the Londoner did promise to retire on this date.

Will David Haye ever come back? We will have to wait and see.