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Haye to make first title defence

02/02/2006

Britain's European cruiserweight champion David Haye will make the first defence of his title against Denmark's Lasse Johansen at the York Hall in Bethnal Green, east London, on March 24th.

The highly-rated 25-year-old from Orpington, Kent, has taken the division by storm since turning professional in 2002 and collected the European belt by knocking out Alexander Gurov, formerly ranked second by the World Boxing Council (WBC), inside a minute in December last year.

He currently boasts a pro record of 15 wins from 16 fights, all of which have come via knockout, but will face a step up in class when he takes on the experienced Johansen, who is unbeaten in his 14 fights, with ten coming within the distance.

Haye will be boosted by having new manager Frank Maloney in his corner, following the famed trainer's departure from Frank Warren's Sports Network company last month.

And Maloney, whose firm Maloney Promotions has signed a three-year deal with Haye, is backing his new charge to forge a name on the world stage, initially at the cruiserweight level, but then also in the heavyweight division.

He also believes that Haye has the ability to emulate another of his former stars who followed the exact same path, that being the former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis.

"We started this ride in 1990 with Lennox in this very room," Maloney said. "It's going to be a fantastic journey over the next three years with David reaching the pinnacle of the cruiserweight division before moving into the heavyweights."

Haye, whose only pro career loss came against Carl Thompson in September 2004 when the IBO cruiserweight title was on the line, is currently ranked fourth in line by the WBC.

Victory in March would most likely be followed by another European title defence in June, possibly against top contender Italian Vincenzo Cantatore, before Haye could land himself a shot at one of the three reigning belt holders.

Britain's Johnny Nelson currently holds the WBO belt, Italian Giacobbe Fragomeni is the interim WBC champion and American O'Neil Bell holds the WBA and IBF crowns.

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