David Haye came up short in his attempt to unify the heavyweight division as he was beaten on points by Wladimir Klitschko in Germany on this day in 2011.
Bidding to take the IBF and WBO belts from Klitschko to add to his own WBA title, Haye failed to make much of an impression in what was a much-hyped fight in Hamburg and claimed he had broken a toe after the match.
The judges scored the bout 117-109, 118-108 and 116-110 all in favour of ‘Dr Steelhammer’, handing Klitschko an easy victory after 12 rounds on a rainy night at the Imtech Arena.
In the pre-match build-up, Haye called Klitschko a “fraud” and “not tough enough” and claimed the Ukrainian looked “beaten and broken” before he even stepped into the ring for “the biggest fight in boxing”.
The then 30-year-old had predicted a straightforward win inside the distance but the outcome was far from it as German-based Klitschko outboxed his opponent in a highly-professional performance.
Haye previously spoke of retiring in glory before he turned 31 but defeat ended those dreams and was a disappointment to the 10,000 Britons in the 45,000 crowd.
Haye said after the match: “I broke my toe on my right foot.
“I couldn’t push off the right foot to throw the right hand.
“I thought adrenaline would get me through it but it was tough. It’s incredibly frustrating.”
