David Haye was incredibly told to ‘run’ by trainer Adam Booth during his famous win over Nikolai Valuev.

In one of British boxing’s most incredible wins on foreign soil, Haye had it all to do in the heavyweight division.

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Haye’s performance against Valuev was one for the record books
A famous fable ‘David vs Goliath’ was recreated with 6ft 3ins Haye stepping up to take on mammoth giant 7ft Valuev.

‘Hayemaker’ was considered a huge underdog against the intimidating Russian, with the 9ins height advantage seen as insurmountable by many.

The face-offs showed exactly how much of a size difference there was between the two operators, with Haye naturally seen as a cruiserweight competitor.

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Seeing his chances of stopping the juggernaut limited, Haye knew he was forced to work to his strengths when travelling over to Germany.

And his incredible laid out tactics began from the opening bell, using his superior movement on the outside.

He stayed out of the way of physical exchanges with the trudging giant trundling towards him, like an out of control vehicle.

Things even turned dangerous for Haye who did manage to land on the head of Valuev during the fight.

But the granite chin of the Russian broke his hand through his glove during the contest.

Haye was circle like a plane waiting to land, jabbing and moving while keeping his distance.

And incredibly, he got the job done picking up the decision on the judges scorecards.

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Valuev towered over Haye and he was forced to defy all size oddsCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
“The guy was a 7ft 2ins giant, you just have to say never say never,” he told talkSPORT.com.

“Yeah the fight was about winning the fight without actually winning the fight.

“The more you engage with Valuev, the more chance you have of being mauled by this mammoth 25 stone guy.

“The day before it was just surreal. I stood next to him at the press conference and the whole thing was surreal.

“So I’m just glad the game plan was to tell him to f**ing run.”

Haye followed Booth’s exact instructions and became a superstar overnight.

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Haye incredibly pulled off a victory which spelled an end to Valuev’s careerCredit: Getty
His victory over Valuev transcended the sport, with the Russian proving no match for the far smaller athlete.

The victor became just the fourth British boxer to win a heavyweight title after Lennox Lewis, Bob Fitzimmons and Frank Bruno.

He also became just the second crusierweight champion to step up and win a heavyweight title after Evander Holyfield.

It was a remarkable feat and arguably the biggest in Haye’s career.

He went on to fight for several more years emerging as a real superstar, taking on the likes of Derek Chisora and Wladimir Klitschko.

His career ended on a sour note though as he lost twice consecutively to Tony Bellew before retiring in 2018.

Meanwhile for Valuev it was to be his final bow in the squared circle, hanging up his gloves after the defeat.

The veteran has since taken to Russian politics, but leaves behind a big legacy in the ring, with wins over Evander Holyfield and John Ruiz his most prominent.