Former world heavyweight champion David Haye was advised by doctors to retire from boxing on this day in 2013.

The then 33-year-old was told to think about ending his 11-year professional career after undergoing five hours of surgery in Germany in an attempt to reconstruct his right shoulder.

Haye had been due to face fellow Briton Tyson Fury in a rearranged bout in Manchester the following February, but was forced to cancel the fight for a second time, having previously pulled out of a September date due to a cut above his left eyebrow.

In a statement on Haye’s website, he said: “I genuinely believed the shoulder injury wasn’t that bad.

“But the doctor sent me for a detailed MRI scan and within 24 hours I was told the full extent of the damage. Twenty-four hours after that I was in the operating theatre.

“It’s a crushing blow for me. I had big plans for next year and the ultimate goal was to win back the world heavyweight title, something my amazing fans deserve.

“What I didn’t anticipate was that this year would be the unluckiest of my career and that a number of injuries would disrupt my plans so much.

“Perhaps it just wasn’t meant to be. The boxing Gods keep hinting that maybe enough is enough and that it’s time to finally hang up my gloves.”

Despite the medical advice, Haye returned to the ring four years later with wins over Mark de Mori and Arnold Gjergjaj in 2016.

He had become unified cruiserweight world champion by stopping fellow Briton Enzo Maccarinelli in 2008 and beat Russian Nikolay Valuev for the WBA heavyweight title in 2009.

The Bermondsey fighter finally announced his retirement in June 2018 after back-to-back losses to Tony Bellew, walking away from the sport aged 37 with 28 career wins – 26 by knockout – from 32 fights.

David Haye became the WBA heavyweight champion with victory over Nikolai Valuev on this day in 2009.

Haye took victory with a majority points decision in Nuremberg, winning the fight on two judges’ scorecards, with the other scoring it even.

The then 29-year-old took the win despite being seven stone lighter than the 7ft ‘Beast from the East’, who had gained the WBA title for a second time with victory over John Ruiz a little over a year earlier.

Haye’s superior speed showed over his 36-year-old opponent and he became the first Briton to hold a world heavyweight crown since Lennox Lewis retired in 2003.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Haye, who followed Evander Holyfield to become only the second former cruiserweight king to win a portion of the heavyweight crown.

“From when I was a baby, I said I would be the heavyweight world champion.

“I’ve fought the biggest heavyweight champion and caught him with big shots.

“I made him look like an amateur. People doubted my skills, but I did enough to win.”

Remarkably, Haye managed to delight a sizeable British contingent in a 10,000 crowd at the Nuremberg Arena with a suspected broken right hand, which trainer Adam Booth said gave way in the third round.

Haye seemed to tire in the seventh round but he hurt Valuev in the eighth with a huge body shot and almost floored his opponent with yet another vicious left-right combination in the final round.

Haye, who was awarded the fight 116-112, 116-112, 114-114, became only the third Briton to win a world heavyweight title since Bob Fitzsimmons lost his crown to James J Jeffries in 1899.

He promised to “clean up the division” but, after making successful WBA title defences against John Ruiz and Audley Harrison, he lost a unanimous points decision to Wladimir Klitschko in their unification showdown in July 2011.

David Haye believes the smoothest and possibly only route to an undisputed world heavyweight title fight is by Daniel Dubois pulling off a major upset against Oleksandr Usyk this weekend.

Usyk, the WBA, IBF and WBO champion, will take on mandatory challenger Dubois in Wroclaw, Poland, on Saturday after negotiations for a showdown against WBC belt holder Tyson Fury broke down earlier this year.

Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder were also at an impasse when they held the major world titles, with Lennox Lewis the last recognised undisputed champion in the division nearly a quarter of a century ago.

Competing interests have often got in the way, but Haye pointed out Dubois and Fury are both represented by Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions and argued a fight between the duo should be simpler to make.

Haye told the PA news agency: “It feels like we’ve had three or four opportunities where the fighters with the belts could have come together and done a deal. For whatever reason, it hasn’t materialised.

“We’re in a position where if Dubois wins on Saturday night, one promotional entity holds the champions of all of the belts – there would never be an easier time, politically, to make the undisputed fight.

“If Usyk wins, is Tyson Fury ever going to fight Usyk? I don’t know. For one reason or another, it doesn’t seem like it’s gelling. If it hasn’t happened by now, is it going to happen? Probably not.

“We want to know who’s number one. If Dubois wins then that makes it possible and the fight fans finally, after all of these years, will have one champion with all of the belts.”

Haye recognises Dubois has a mountainous challenge ahead of him, with Usyk a prohibitive favourite to retain his world titles and extend his unblemished professional record to 21 wins from as many bouts.

Usyk’s dazzling footwork and blurring hand speed from a southpaw stance has led to many suggesting the heavy-handed Dubois has just a puncher’s chance despite having height and weight advantages.

However, Haye feels Dubois (19-1, 18KOs) has nothing to lose and that his learning curves in a loss to Joe Joyce in 2020 and having to get up off the canvas three times before stopping the lightly-regarded Kevin Lerena last December are hugely beneficial for the Londoner’s chances heading into this weekend.

Haye, who alongside Usyk and Evander Holyfield are the only fighters to have won world cruiserweight and heavyweight titles, added: “I like the fact there’s no pressure on Dubois whatsoever.

“He’s got everything to gain. Nobody is expecting him to be able to cause an upset here. He has the firepower, all he needs is one punch, one clean shot.

“He had a very interesting fight against Kevin Lerena where he was put down early from a southpaw who was a former cruiserweight.

“He understands that he’s bigger and stronger but he can be hurt, that was the best thing for him because it gives him the reality of what he’s putting himself in (when he takes on Usyk).

“It looks from the outside like a mission impossible but I’m liking what I’m hearing from him – he’s talking about making it rough and uncomfortable for Usyk and that’s exactly what he needs to do.

“He may get dropped or hurt or some facial damage but he’s going to need to work through that to get to the promised land if he wants an opportunity to seriously gatecrash the heavyweight division.”

:: Watch Usyk v Dubois exclusively live on TNT Sports Box Office on Saturday 26 August. Learn more at www.tntsports.co.uk/boxoffice

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.”

Oscar De La Hoya has overcome coronavirus after spending three days in hospital, the boxing great has confirmed.

De La Hoya was due to come out of retirement to face former UFC champion Vitor Belfort in Los Angeles on September 11.

However, the 48-year-old had to withdraw from the fight after falling ill with COVID-19.

Former world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, 58, has been named as a replacement for De La Hoya, though that decision has been met with scrutiny.

Indeed, the event has now had to be moved to Florida due to licensing issues.

Holyfield has not fought in over a decade.

Three days ahead of the bout that was supposed to make his return, De La Hoya offered an update of his recovery on his official Twitter account.

"Hey guys, I am out of the hospital. I was in there for three days," De La Hoya tweeted.

"COVID hit me really hard. I was in the best shape of my life and I really can't wait to get back in the ring.

"Thank you very much for all your well wishes and all your support. I appreciate it."

David Haye is ending his retirement to fight Joe Fournier in the headline bout.