The early days of David Haye's professional career, played out in sparsely attended sports halls at the unloved cruiserweight limit, hinted little at the global heavyweight superstar he was to become.

Haye's class had been evident in a sparkling amateur spell which culminated in his winning the silver medal at the 2001 World Amateur Championships in Belfast, where he was beaten in the final by Cuban Odlanier Solis.

Haye, from Bermondsey, moved to the paid ranks in 2002 and quickly established himself as a fighter to watch, mixing concussive punch power with a defence which was less than perfect.

He clambered off the floor to beat Lolenga Mock in his seventh professional fight then was shockingly knocked out in five rounds by Manchester veteran Carl Thompson in September 2004.

That loss sent Haye on his unorthodox road to redemption, headlining venues from Rotherham to Bracknell as he racked up the low-key wins which ultimately led him into his first world title fight against French world cruiserweight champion Jean-Marc Mormeck in November 2007.

That was the night Haye's potential as a marketable fighter really came to the fore, as he recovered from a heavy fourth round knockdown to knock out his opponent himself in the seventh round, taking Mormeck's WBC and WBA titles and with them universal recognition as the world's new number one cruiserweight.

In a huge domestic tussle with WBO champion Enzo Maccarinelli at London's O2 Arena in March 2008, Haye hammered the Welshman to second round defeat and immediately stated his intention to relinquish his cruiserweight crowns and pursue heavyweight glory.

By now Haye's sports hall days were over. His profile was such that after just one fight at heavyweight, a routine win over old stager Monte Barrett, he was given a shot at Russian giant Nikolai Valuev in Nuremberg in November 2009.

Haye and his team came up with a technically brilliant strategy to pick off his ungainly opponent and earn a clear points victory and with it the WBA version of the world heavyweight crown.

Haye made his first defence against the perennial contender John Ruiz, who was designed to test the Londoner's toughness at the weight if nothing else, and Haye duly obliged with a ninth round stoppage.

Next up was a cynical and ill-advised farce against the scarcely qualified Audley Harrison, which did nothing to help Haye's carefully cultivated popular image. Harrison hardly threw a punch before he was dispatched in three, but the outpouring of derision surrounding the contest was eased when it became clear Haye was closing in on his dream of fighting one of the Klitschko brothers.

Now Haye has got his wish to face unified king Wladimir Klitschko, and next Saturday night in Hamburg the man who once failed to turn heads in dull regional dust-ups can guarantee the full attention of the boxing world.