David Haye has, as expected, confirmed his retirement from boxing on his 31st birthday.
The former WBA heavyweight champion has fulfilled his long-standing promise to hang up his gloves on October 13, 2011, something he re-iterated he would do after losing his belt to Wladimir Klitschko back in July.
The British Boxing Board of Control announced earlier this week that Haye had indicated he would not seek to renew his licence in December.
That, though, had not stopped speculation growing that the Brit could be tempted to delay his retirement to fight Vitali Klitschko early in 2012.
Klitschko's manager Bernd Boente claimed that talks were already underway for the bout to take place next February, and Haye admits he did consider carrying on so he could face the Ukrainian.
However, he has stuck to his guns and opted to hang up his gloves, meaning he finishes with a 25-2 record as a professional.
"Vitali Klitschko did show an interest in sharing the ring with me in 2012, but since that initial declaration we have heard the wrong kind of noises from Team Klitschko which has left me thinking there is little chance of the fight ever coming to fruitition," Haye said in a statement.
"I would have very much enjoyed the idea of putting my retirement on hold for six months and going in against another champion that no-one gave me a chance of beating.
"Ultimately though Team Klitschko are a business and they rarely take on tough opposition, unless they are forced to."
David Haye factfile
1980: Born October 13, in Bermondsey.
2001: Reaches final of the World Amateur Championships in Belfast, losing to Cuban Odlanier Solis in the third round.
2002: Turns professional and wins first fight in December, beating fellow Englishman Tony Booth.
2004: September - Loses for the first time, beaten by former WBO champion Carl Thompson at Wembley Arena in an IBO cruiserweight title fight.
2005: December - Wins EBU European cruiserweight belt, beating Alexander Gurov in Bracknell.
2006: Retains European title with wins over Lasse Johansen, Ismail Abdoul and Giacobbe Fragomeni.
2007: Begins his year with a heavyweight fight at Wembley Arena, and a first-round knock-out of Poland's Tomasz Bonin.
November - Wins WBA and WBC cruiserweight titles with victory over Jean-Marc Mormeck in France, winning by technical knock-out in the seventh round.
2008: March - Beats Welshman Enzo Maccarinelli in the second round at the O2 Arena and adds WBO title to his collection. Reveals he is to move up to heavyweight division on a permanent basis, and later gives up his cruiserweight titles.
November - Wins first fight as a full-time heavyweight, with a fifth-round TKO victory over Monte Barrett in London.
2009: June - Pulls out of planned fight with WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko due to injury.
November 7 - Takes on WBA champion Nikolai Valuev in Nuremberg and wins on points after an attritional contest, with two judges favouring Haye and another scoring the fight as a draw. Lands first world title as a heavyweight.
2010: April 3 - Retains WBA world heavyweight title after John Ruiz's corner throws in the towel in the ninth round of their fight in Manchester.
November 13 - Beats Audley Harrison by third-round stoppage to retain WBA title for a second time.
2011: July 2 - Beaten by Wladimir Klitschko on points in world heavyweight unification bout in Hamburg.
October 11: The British Boxing Board of Control general secretary Robert Smith reveals Haye has emailed the board stating he does not wish to renew his fighting licence.
October 13: Haye officially announces his retirement from the sport on his 31st birthday, a date he always maintained would signal the end of his career.