David Haye set to announce retirement from boxing

David Haye is set to bow to the inevitable and announce his retirement from boxing after his second defeat by Tony Bellew earlier this month.

Former world heavyweight champion Haye, 37, will step down for the second time after failing to beat the persistent injuries which hampered the later stages of his career - and forced him to quit once before in 2012.

He will now concentrate on his activities as a promoter, with his heavyweight protégé Joe Joyce next in action in London on June 15.

Haye, from Bermondsey, has been one of the major figures in British boxing for more than a decade.

He will be remembered for his spectacular rise from cruiserweight to become WBA world heavyweight champion in 2009, defeating Russian Nikolai Valuev.

Haye was also notable for his flamboyant style out-of-the ring and his outspoken nature, as well as his big-hitting and exciting fighting skills which made him the unified cruiserweight champion with a memorable victory over Jean Marc-Mormeck in Paris in 2007.

But he gained just as much attention for the manner of his humiliating loss of the WBA belt to Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko in Hamburg in 2011 when he complained afterwards that he had been hampered by an injured toe.

Haye took a three-and half-year break from the ring following shoulder surgery in 2012. After a low-key return in 2016, he suffered a shock defeat in a heavyweight clash with Liverpudlian Bellew in March last year - and was then comprehensively beaten in a rematch on May 5.

In a Twitter message, Haye said: "Thank you for your kind words of love and support over the last couple of weeks.

"I look forward to updating you on my plans for the future shortly, sometimes it takes a little while to find the right words."