David Haye easily out-boxed Fournier to win a unanimous decision on his return to the ring on Saturday night in Florida. It seemed as if he was protecting his old friend by not inflicting any real damage.
The former cruiserweight and heavyweight world champion had ended his retirement of three years, aged 40, to step back between the ropes against a former friend. With what some are calling a televised sparring session.
Over the eight-round duration Haye appeared to carry Fournier, comfortably keeping him at bay and once put him on the canvas.
His last two fights, in 2017 and 2018, were both stoppage losses to Tony Bellew. It seemed as if injuries played a key role in both those defeats.
This time around Haye appeared to roll back the clock mimicking his career prime, he even wore his trademark Union Jack shorts.
Although he seemed to hold back any dangourous power shots, Haye was never put to the test by Fournier’s wild and inaccurate shots.
A jab towards the end of the first round from Haye caught Fournier off balance and saw him fall to the canvas.
Haye’s head movements and reactions were enough to see off all of Fournier’s attacks. He seemed happy to mainly just use his jab, when there seems plenty of opportunities to end the fight.
Fournier was a previously undefeated light-heavyweight whose last win was over a musician making their boxing debut. During his performance with Haye, it was clear that he was nowhere near the same standard as the pro fighter.
The judges scored the fight widely in Haye’s favour (79-72, 79-72, 80-71).
Donald Trump, the former US president provided guest commentary on the fight.
