ACLT Charity Patron - David 'The Hayemaker' Haye

HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD - Why it's important for me to be a Patron for this cause

ACLT Charity Patron - David 'The Hayemaker' Haye

Congratulations to ACLT patron David Haye, WBA Heavyweight Champion of The World, who successfully defended his title against John Ruiz on Saturday 3rd April in Manchester. ACLT representatives, Orin Lewis, Beverley De-Gale, Anthony Cox and Sarah Cox were at ringside to watch David give a powerhouse and thrilling knockout performance as he registered a 9th round TKO and become only the 2nd fighter ever to stop the former 2 time champion.

David Haye - Why it's important for me to be a Patron for this cause

NB This statement was written before Saturdays Heavyweight world title fight

My name is David 'The Hayemaker' Haye and I am the current undisputed WBC, WBA, WBO and 'The Ring' Magazine cruiserweight champion of the world. My record is 21-1 (20 KO's), and I have been a professional boxer since December 2002.

I had the pleasure of meeting Orin Lewis, co-founder of the ACLT in 2007. A meeting was arranged by a very good friend who is a supporter of the work of the charity. Orin explained to me at the meeting about the work of raising awareness, recruiting potential bone marrow donors and blood donors and to ultimately set up an independent ACLT bone marrow registry. I was able to experience the work of the charity 1st hand whilst attending a registration drive in West London on Saturday 8th December the day of the Ricky Hatton v Floyd Mayweather fight. I stopped off on my way to the Sky Studios in West London to observe and to get registered myself. I was so impressed with the friendliness of the ACLT volunteers and the approach taken by them to all members of the public wanting to register and the overall way in which the work was being done. I meet some family’s that were directly affected by the leukaemia and bone marrow transplants. I felt truly humbled and it really wasn’t a difficult decision to make in getting involved in the ACLT’s very worthy cause. It is a pleasure for me to say that I am a Patron of the ACLT and I will support the cause in any way possible.

About Me...

As well as winning the undisputed WBC, WBA, WBO & 'The Ring' Magazine (all the marbles) world titles, I have also won the European and English cruiserweight championships as a pro. I successfully defended the European cruiserweight title three times before being awarded my shot at the undisputed world cruiserweight title against Jean-Marc Mormeck in November 2007. I've also appeared on TV shows such as 'A Question of Sport' and 'Soccer AM'.

I am universally recognised as the best cruiserweight fighter on the face of the Earth. I achieved this accolade on November 10, 2007 by knocking out former undisputed world champion Jean-Marc Mormeck in seven rounds. In order to complete my dream of becoming undisputed cruiserweight king I had to travel to Paris, France to knock Mormeck out. After only 21 fights as a pro, I managed to do just that. Although I was intending to step up to heavyweight as soon as Mormeck was counted out in Paris, I decided to stick around at cruiserweight for one final fight. This final fight occured on March 8 against my long-time rival and fellow world champion (WBO) Enzo Maccarinelli, from Swansea, Wales.

The fight, which took place at South London's amazing O2 Arena, was billed as the biggest all-British blockbuster for over 15 years. Yet, despite many people picking Enzo to beat me, 'The Hayemaker' duly delivered. I knocked out Maccarinelli in the second round of a scheduled 12-rounder. The demolition was screened live on both Setanta in the UK and Showtime in the USA. Dusting off Enzo Maccarinelli was the final piece in my cruiserweight jigsaw. I'm now going to start collecting all the pieces for my heavyweight puzzle...