Haye stops Harrison in third to retain WBA title

David Haye

MANCHESTER, England, (Reuters) – David Haye retained  his WBA world heavyweight title with a third round technical  knockout against fellow Briton Audley Harrison today.
Both boxers were booed by the crowd at the MEN arena after a  slow opening to the contest but Haye stepped up the pace in the  third round, knocking Harrison down before launching another  flurry of punches that forced the referee to stop the fight.
“I had a lot of money on the third round, so did a lot of my  friends and family. I told everyone I would knock him out in  three rounds and that’s what I did,” Haye said.
The fight, Haye’s second title defence, was seen as  Harrison’s last chance to make amends for an underwhelming  career following his Olympic gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Games  but the challenger never got going.
Haye took the early initiative, although punches were at a  premium leading to a chorus of boos from the crowd and a request  from the referee for the boxers to get on with the fight.
Haye did just that with his speed and power proving too much  for Harrison in the third when the challenger hit the canvas and  took an eight count before facing another barrage of punches.

David Haye
David Haye