Haye says victory is 'amazing feeling'

By Dominic Byrne Newsbeat presenter

Britain has its first heavyweight champion of the world since 2002 after David Haye beat massive Russian fighter Nikolai Valuev in Germany on Saturday night. The 29-year-old fractured his right hand hitting Valuev in the head but managed to win on points over 12 rounds. David Haye says he had to hold back from his usual aggressive style of fighting but says it was worth it to win the WBA version of the world heavyweight title.

Have Your Say: How highly do you rate Britain's new heavyweight boxing champion?

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How did you find the fight?

It was something I've never had to do before. Normally, if you've watched any of my fights before, you see I'm very aggressive. I really push the action and I try to really put dents in people with every single shot.

This time, that wouldn't have worked against this guy. Guys have tried that with this Valuev fighter before but because he's 7ft 2in (2.18m) and 24 stone (152kg), it just bounces off him and you end up sapping your energy.

So I had to use tactics I've never used before, a sort of hit and move. I had to use my agility and speed.

One judge gave it even but the other two judges knew what they were talking about and they had me winning eight of the 12 rounds, which is the way I saw it.

Was there part of you when you got in the ring looking at Valuev that thought, 'Oh my goodness. I didn't actually realise you were that big'?

No. I sort of mentally prepared long before the fight. I had big, cardboard cutouts of him in my gym, all over the place. So I'm used to seeing his physical size around.

When I got in the ring it didn't shock me, it wasn't a surprise, I was expecting it.

I couldn't believe how the British public have got behind me for this. You've got to remember that I was out in Germany for a week before the fight, so I saw none of the build up, I saw none of the hype.

It was only till I got back to Stansted last night (Sunday) that I saw there were hundreds of people there wanting to congratulate me. It was amazing.

A lot of people are worried about your hand David. There's always an indication of how powerful the other opponent is if you break your hand hitting his face. How hard was it to hit him?

If you hit someone on the top of their skull, the likelihood is you're going to damage your hand. But I hit him on the jaw with a right hand and that broke my hand.

You've got to remember how big the guy's head was. They measured both of our heads and his was just under two-and-a-half times the size of mine, circumference-wise.

That shows he must have a very thick skull and a big, massive jaw bone. I've never hit anything that solid before.

Every time I hit him I could feel it in my hands. But it was for the heavyweight championship of the world and I knew the whole of Britain was behind me, so I could not let them down.

After going through that battle, 12 rounds, how does it feel finally to be heavyweight champion of the world?

David Haye will defend his title against former champion John Ruiz next year

It's strange. You spend your whole life aiming to have that belt around your waist and you finally achieve it. I did it at cruiserweight as well.

I guess now you're just soaking up the congratulations from everybody. It must be a bizarre one to come to terms with, heavyweight champion of the world?

I was champion of the world at cruiserweight but being the heavyweight champion and the cruiserweight champion is a whole different thing.

It's the same title that Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis had round their waists and it's an amazing feeling to know that I'll go down in history as a guy who held the world heavyweight championship.