Boxing: David Haye will dump his world cruiserweight titles and move up in pursuit of heavyweight greatness after battering Enzo Maccarinelli to a dramatic second-round defeat at the O2 Arena in London.
Haye took just five minutes and four seconds to smash Maccarinelli into submission with two dynamite right hands which left the stunned Welshman reeling around the ring with no hope of continuing last night.
Haye added Maccarinelli's WBO title to the WBC and WBA straps he already owned - but his first act as the unified champion will be to tell the sanctioning bodies he is deserting the division in search of greater things.
Haye said: "I'm ready to go up there and start taking on the heavyweights now. I've achieved all I can in the cruiserweight division, and it's time to go up and fight the best possible opponents and knock them out.
"I've always aspired to be the best at everything I do. I said from day one I'd become undisputed number one at cruiserweight. Now it's time for me to move up to heavyweight and do the same thing.
"The Americans have a craving for an exciting heavyweight — someone who can really fight and is willing to put it on the line. I hope they'll realise that's me, and I'll set the world alight."
Haye's twisting career has taken him everywhere from Bracknell and Rotherham to the Playboy Mansion, but this was the night he finally turned into a major Arena star in front of 18,000 fans in the early hours.
Crucially for his long-term aim of heavyweight domination, the fight was beamed live across the United States — and the Americans must have been impressed with the way he turned the so-called 'Battle of Britain' into a cakewalk.
Having felt the force of a Maccarinelli left hand early on, Haye shrugged it off and shaded the first round despite picking up a cut around his left eye — which simply added to his sense of urgency.
The Bermondsey man poured forward in round two, a right hook softening up his opponent who was pushed backwards into a neutral corner and left in serious trouble by another big right hand.
Maccarinelli appeared to touch down — but instead of taking a count, he sagged into the ropes and shipped another booming shot. Its force left him reeling around the ring on wobbly legs, before referee John Keane intervened.
"I made a mistake and put my chin out," said a distraught Maccarinelli afterwards. "I had a plan but I didn't stick to it. It was such a stupid thing to do, and a massive lesson to learn."