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Haye defends cruiserweight crown

22/07/2006

David Haye has retained his European cruiserweight title after a unanimous points win over Ismail Abdoul.

It was an uninspiring win however for the 27-year-old as he made his second successful defence of his crown.

He admitted afterwards he was using the fight as a stepping stone and he was now hopeful of lining up a world title shot against undisputed cruiserweight champion O'Neil Bell before the end of the year.

"I've got a big fight coming up and it's nice to get 12 rounds in the bank," Haye said.

"I saw it as an exercise in going through the motions as there was no need to dominate him but I would produce a completely different type of performance for O'Neil Bell."

Haye admitted afterwards he was restricting himself to just three right-handed punches a round.

However, he was always confident with his jab and used it to good effect throughout the fight.

The Londoner revealed it was difficult to rein in his attacking tendencies at times but he was pleased his plan had come off.

"It was a completely different style for me and goes against everything that I would normally do," Haye added.

"I have never done that, not even in the amateurs, but the plan was to go 12 rounds and I have done that perfectly."

All three judges scored the fight in Altrincham 120-108 in favour of Haye.

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