David Haye blames broken toe for world title flop

British heavyweight David Haye blamed a broken toe for his world title defeat against Wladimir Klitschko as the British heavyweight lost a unanimous points decision in Hamburg against the giant Ukrainian. The three judges scored the 12-round contest 117-109, 118-108 and 116-110 in Klitschko's favour.

The victory means that Klitschko, who already held the IBF and WBO titles, now has Haye's WBA belt and needs just the WBC belt to unify the heavyweight division. That title, however, is held by his older brother Vitali and the siblings have promised never to fight one another.

The result was a bitter disappointment for Haye, whose performance never matched the aggression of his pre-match banter  in which, among other things, he promised a "brutal execution" of Klitschko.

Afterwards, the 30-year-old Briton was ready with the excuses, saying: "I broke my toe about three weeks ago and that's why I stopped sparring so early. I couldn't push off my right foot to land that big shot as I couldn't explode forward."

The fight began in heavy rain at the Imtech Arena in front of 45,000 fans and for the early rounds neither boxer looked set to land the killer punch. Klitschko fought behind his imposing left jab while Haye tried to find an opening in his opponent's defences to unleash one of his 'Hayemakers'.

The Londoner landed a good shot in the third but Klitschko took it well, as Haye did when the Ukrainian caught him with a heavy right hand in round five. Thereafter neither fighter looked like producing a knockout blow, with Haye increasingly unable to slip past Klitschko's jab and the Ukrainian content to accumulate the points without running the risk of walking onto the end of one of Haye's right-handers.

When the fight ended both fighters raised their hands in triumph but to one one's great surprise the three judges all gave the bout to Klitschko, though the margin of the points decision was perhaps a little harsh on Haye. "I think I've proven I'm a great fighter," said the Londoner afterwards, adding: "My toe's in absolute agony right now... I've been plagued by injuries throughout my career."

Despite the animosity between the two boxers in the build-up to the fight, the pair shook hands at the end and Haye said of his opponent: "He played it smart and kept hitting me with the jab and occasional right hand. All credit to Wladimir. He's a great fighter and I have a lot of respect for him."

Thirty-five-year-old Klitschko seemed less enamoured of the Briton, however, still angry for some of the vitriol thrown his way in recent weeks. "I am still not okay with his behaviour," said the champion. "It's disgraceful to the boxing fans, to the sport of boxing, the way the man behaved....[but] I think the fight spoke for itself. He connected with a couple of punches but I wasn't hurt at any stage." ·