as it is." Heavyweight Haye described the victory over Maccarinelli as "the final piece" in his cruiserweight jigsaw. Haye then defeated heavyweight Monte Barrett at The O2 Arena in London on 15 November 2008, winning via TKO in the fifth round. WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko confirmed he would defend his title in a fight with Haye to take place on 20 June 2009, at Stamford Bridge in London. Instead, his younger brother, WBO, IBF, and IBO champion Wladimir Klitschko agreed to fight Haye the same date in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Haye pulled out of the fight with a back injury. WBA heavyweight champion Haye vs. Valuev Haye then confirmed that he would meet the WBA champion Nikolay Valuev (50–1, 34 KOs) on 7 November 2009 in the Nuremberg Arena, Nuremberg, Germany. Haye's former trainer Adam Booth said it was a fight that Valuev wanted; it was billed as David and Goliath. Haye weighed in at 217 pounds, almost 100 pounds less than his opponent. Haye said about Valuev: "He is the ugliest thing I have ever seen. I have watched Lord of the Rings and films with strange-looking people, but for a human being to look like he does is pretty shocking." Haye beat Valuev in a reserved display of accuracy and efficiency, countering Valuev's misses, jabbing and circling his much larger opponent. Haye came close to knocking Valuev down in the final round with a hard left hand, which made Valuev stumble. Haye won a majority decision (MD) with scores of 114–114, 116–112, and 116–112. Haye is the first and currently only boxer in the history of the sport to be seven stone or more lighter than an opponent in a world title fight and still come out victorious. The fight garnered 469,000 buys on Sky Sports Box Office, which saw Haye receive a payday of £2.1 million. Haye vs. Ruiz On 26 January 2010, former WBA champion John Ruiz was announced as Haye's first title defence on 3 April at the M.E.N Arena in Manchester, live on Sky Box Office. Ruiz, ranked as the number one contender by the WBA was initially in line to fight Valuev, however agree to step aside. Ruiz was unhappy at the fight being staged in the UK and not Las Vegas, as he thought it would be. Ruiz did not show up at the official press conference. Haye defeated Ruiz in his