Boxing: David Haye's 8 Greatest Knockouts

The word "knockout" appears to be on all boxing fans' minds as July 2nd approaches, when British heavyweight sensation David Haye meets WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko inside the ring.

"The Hayemaker" has an overall record of 25-1 with 23 knockouts, giving him an 89 percent knockout ratio. He has knocked out seven of his last eight opponents.

Compare that to Klitschko, who has an incredible 85 percent knockout ratio with 58 bouts on his record. He has knocked out nine of his last 10 opponents.

It all goes down at the Imtech-Arena in Hamburg, Germany, and the war of words is over. Now it's time to fight.

These are David Haye's eight greatest knockouts.

No. 8: Valery Semiskur

This was an important fight for Haye. He was coming off his first and only defeat of Carl Thompson three months earlier and was eager to get back into the ring.

His opponent, Valery Semishkur, was 15-13-1 overall, but was simply there to be a tune-up opponent and confidence-builder for the 24-year-old.

Haye finished him off at 1:36 of the very first round.

No. 7: Tomasz Bonin

Polish boxer Tomasz Bonin went into his bout with Haye with a 37-1 record, with his only defeat coming against an undefeated Audley Harrison three years earlier.

Haye had just come off an impressive ninth-round TKO over an undefeated opponent in Giacobbe Fragomeni and wanted to keep his momentum building.

Haye won in the very first round.

No. 6: Glen Kelly

Glen Kelly may best be remembered for losing his undefeated record at the hands of Roy Jones, when the pound-for-pound star delivered his behind-the-back knockout blow.

Kelly's only other loss had been to Paul Briggs before moving up to the cruiserweight division, where he eventually met David Haye in 2005.

Haye made quick work of his opponent, knocking him out in two rounds.

No. 5: Audley Harrison

It was an ugly fight, but Haye got the job done against Audley Harrison in the third round after knocking him down and delivering follow-up shots to force the referee to stop the bout.

This was Haye's last fight before signing on to fight Wladimir Klitschko, and it wasn't the best warm-up fight he could have taken.

Still, at least he got the stoppage win, ending the horrendous performance by Harrison.

No. 4: Jean Marc Mormeck

Former WBA cruiserweight champion Jean Marc Mormeck left his mark on boxing when he slugged it out with O'Neill Bell before being knocked out in Round 10. He rematched Bell and won a unanimous decision a year later.

Mormeck also had two wins over Virgil Hill before taking on Haye in 2007.

Haye faced some adversity in the bout after getting knocked down in Round 4. He came back to knock out Mormeck in Round 7, winning the WBC and WBA cruiserweight titles.

No. 3: Enzo Maccarinelli

WBO cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli put his title on the line against Haye's WBA and WBC cruiserweight titles in 2008.

It was a big fight for British boxing, and it was cut short in Round 2 when Haye dropped Maccarinelli against the ropes before the final minute of the round.

The referee waved off the bout prematurely, but it was clear that Maccarinelli wasn't going to last much longer.

This would be Haye's final cruiserweight bout before moving to heavyweight.

No. 2: Monte Barrett

Haye's heavyweight debut came against the former WBA heavyweight title challenger, Monte Barrett, in 2008.

Barrett had a wealth of experience fighting guys like Nikolay Valuev, Hasim Rahman, Joe Mesi and Dominick Guinn, but he had been knocked out in three of his six defeats.

Haye made quick work of his opponent, knocking him down and out in Round 5.

No. 1: John Ruiz

Haye's first defense of his WBA heavyweight title came against the tough and durable John Ruiz, who was a former champion himself.

"The Quiet Man" had only been knocked out once in his career, after being overwhelmed and destroyed by David Tua 14 years earlier.

Haye showcased his power early and dropped Ruiz in the first 30 seconds. He followed up with another barrage of punches to put Ruiz down for a second time in the round.

Ruiz fought back, but couldn't match-up to the speed and power of his younger opponent and was stopped in Round 9.