Haye finishes Chisora

The Hayemaker knocked Chisora to the canvas twice near the end of the fifth-round with a series of devastating blows, leading to the referee stopping the fight even though Chisora looked like he was just about to survive the second count which came as the bell sounded to end the round.

After all the controversy in the build-up, the fight delivered on its promise to be an explosive contest, but Haye’s greater hand-speed was evident from the off and he won every round before finishing it in the fifth.

That’s not to say Chisora was as passenger either, he too landed some big shots in a meaty contest that excited the big crowd in attendance who were noisy from the off despite torrential rainfall thundering into the outdoor venue just before the start of the fight.

Haye’s performance sees him become relevant in the heavyweight division once again and he immediately called out for a fight with WBC Heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko after the fight despite having being outclassed by his brother Wladimir last summer.

The genesis of this fight was of course the unsavoury and despicable brawl between the pair at a press conference in Munich after Chisora’s world title defeat to Vitali Klitschko last February.

With neither fighter licensed by the British Boxing Board of Control, promoter Frank Warren had to use a European law loop hole to get the fight sanctioned by Luxembourg’s boxing authority while still allowing the fight to be held in Britain.

Nevertheless, the sight of 30,000 bloody-thirsty fans packed inside the Premier League football crowd proved there was a public appetite to see the two enemies have a contained and rule-bound ‘rematch’ of their Munich fisticuffs; and indeed the pantomime-like build-up provided the occasion with a perverse appeal that was hard to resist.

With the likes of Andy Murray and Ronnie O’Sullivan watching ringside, it was clear that Haye had the majority of the fan support in the stadium as the two men came into the ring.

Chisora was notably bigger when the fight began, but crucially Haye was much quicker; Chisora was constantly coming forward, and trying to chop down on the smaller Haye with big shots but Haye wriggled clear from most of those attempts, landed with cleaner punches, and took the early rounds.

Chisora’s best punch of the night actually came after the bell at the end of the third round when the fighters stood toe-to-toe after failing to hear the bell and there were some signs that Haye was beginning to tire as the 10 round contest zipped along.

However, with around 30 seconds to go in the fifth, Haye’s lightning hand-speed left Chisora seeing stars as a breathtaking left hand cruncher violently jagged Chisora’s head back allowing Haye to almost push the bigger man down to the canvas with a follow up right.

Chisora got up to continue but probably wished he stayed on the canvas as Haye, who has always been an exceptional finisher, went in for the kill with barrage of punches.

He finally found his mark, repeatedly, just as the round was ending, as five shots, three rights and two lefts, all found their mark in quick succession as Chisora went timber again.

To be fair to the Zimbabwe born North-Londoner he once again got up at around the eight count and would have had a minute to compose himself on his stool had he been allowed to continue, but the referee looked into his eyes, saw a beaten man, and rightly stopped the fight.

At the end of the contest the two men embraced and were both respectful of each other in their post-match comments, suggesting that much of the pre-fight animosity may well have been for show.

Certainly the pre-fight hype helped significantly boost both men’s coffers, but at least on this occasion, boxing fans were not left short changed either.