David Haye seeks to unify the heavyweight division

Britain's latest boxing world champion, the heavyweight David Haye, is preparing to cash in on his shock defeat of Russian Nikolai Valuev on Saturday night in Nuremberg, germany. The 29-year-old south Londoner outpointed his 7ft-tall, 23-stone opponent with an intelligent display of hit-and-run boxing in a fight that, while far from a classic, has breathed life into what had become a moribund boxing division.

"It worked, the plan was a dream, the fight was flawless," said Haye's trainer Adam Booth. "It was more than just a victory for David. It was a victory for heavyweight boxing and a victory for the sport - the people now have a heavyweight that they can get behind." Boxing's eminence gris Don King was similarly impressed, saying: "Oh baby, oh baby, David will be king, yes, he will be king!"

Hayes kept on the back foot for much of the 12 rounds, landing jabs on Valuev, who was nine inches taller and seven stone heavier than the challenger, then skipping away before the lumbering Russian could launch his devastating punches.

By the final round, Valuev was tiring fast and the British boxer almost felled him with a left hook that wobbled the knees of the 'Beast from the East', despite having a suspected broken hand from hitting the 36-year-old in the head in the second round.

The task now for Hayes, a handsome fighter who has modelled for Abercrombie & Fitch, is to unify the disparate heavyweight belts. The division that once spawned such legends as Muhammed Ali and Mike Tyson has fallen into disrepute of late, as different organisations have proliferated, offering devalued belts, and the sport has been dominated by faceless big-hitters from eastern Europe. With the smart-talking Hayes offering a bankable, English-speaking face to the division, the Las Vegas hotels that bankroll the biggest fights in the world could come calling and rehabilitate the heavyweight class.

The long-term objective for Hayes and Booth will be to unify the three main belts - the World Boxing Association, which he won on Saturday, and those of the World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF). The WBC champion is Vitali Klitschko, and the IBF belt is held by his brother Wladimir. While Haye will make his first defence of the belt against John Ruiz, the Ukrainian brothers will provide him with a focus for the rest of what he promises will be a short career - he has vowed to quit the sport when he hits 31.

Ruiz is not expected to be a major obstacle, despite Haye's protestations to the contrary - "He is a good fighter, very underrated" - and the former cruiserweight champion will then turn his attentions to unifying the division.

"I said I want to be unified champion and the Klitschkos are definitely in my sights," Haye said on Saturday. Considering that the Londoner managed to unify the belts at his previous weight, nothing appears unlikely for The Hayemaker. ·