Graphic: Golden gloves

Golden ages tend to have one thing in common: they take place in the past. But British boxing is going through a boom like no other. After the euphoria of his win over Mikkel Kessler last weekend, who would have thought that Joe Calzaghe’s performance could have been equalled so quickly? But David Haye’s seventh-round stoppage of Jean-Marc Mormeck to win the WBC and WBA cruiserweight titles leaves Great Britain rivalling the United States as a world power.

In the troubled city that Dickens wrote about, this really is the best of times. In Calzaghe, Ricky Hatton and now Haye, Britain has the recognised world No 1 in three divisions - super-middleweight, light-welterweight and cruiserweight.

In addition, there are four other world champions. Junior Witter and Gavin Rees are WBC and WBA champions respectively at light-welter-weight, Clinton Woods is the IBF light-heavyweight champion and Enzo Maccarinelli the WBO cruiserweight champion, while Alex Arthur holds the interim WBO super-feather-weight title and could be elevated to full champion status in January.

Previous good times are talked of when Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank, Lennox Lewis and Frank Bruno hit their prime in the Nineties, or when Alan Minter, Jim Watt, Maurice Hope and Cornelius Boza-Edwards held world titles at the start of the Eighties, but at no time did Britain have the level of dominance or the depth in talent it now has. While America looks mournfully at bygone days, British boxing has never had it so good.

Haye, 27, has long been tarred as the sport’s pretty boy, written off along with his former England amateur teammate, Audley Harrison, as all talk, no substance. But Haye’s victory on Saturday night ranks as one of the best by a Briton. He took on a dominant, established double world champion in the Frenchman’s home town and had to pick himself off the floor to win in sensational style.

“I refused to lose,” Haye said. “I got up, Mormeck didn’t; that was the difference. It was never the plan to win on points in Paris on a Don King show, we’re not that naive. This is what I’ve dreamt about since I was a kid. I’ve cleaned up this division, now it’s time to move up. I think I showed by coming to France that I’m not scared of any challenge.”

One of the exciting aspects of boxing is its sheer conclusiveness. Had Haye lost, his career prospects would have looked a mess. There would be no best out of three, no second-place prize, no tournament next week to set things right, no money list to work out an annual average. Haye won, the future is bright; Mormeck, 35, lost, he may never box again. Sport is best when it matters.

Now Haye plans to move up to heavyweight with the goal of emulating Evander Holyfield by winning world titles in both divisions. In April, Haye knocked out Tomasz Bonin, the WBC’s No 11 heavyweight, in 105 seconds at Wembley, showing he is strong in the biggest division. Britain, traditionally the land of the horizontal heavyweight, has another big man to set pulses racing.

No one will realise that more than Frank Maloney, his promoter. Haye is Maloney’s fourth world champion. It was only moments after Haye had dumped Mormeck on the canvas that Maloney’s phone started buzzing. The man who helped to turn Lewis from a little-known Canada Olympian into the most dominant heavyweight of his generation was back in vogue.

The first message was from Frank Warren, a fellow promoter. “It says ‘Congratulations, there isn’t anything now to stop a unification with Enzo [Maccarinelli]. Don’t stop a quality fight from happening’,” Maloney said.

Haye’s difficulty in making the weight is, however, a problem. “We’d like it to be a catchweight fight, the titles don’t matter,” Maloney said. “To quote a good agent, show us the colour of the money and we can start negotiating.”

Meanwhile, Carl King, the son of Don, was inviting Maloney to the US for talks. King Sr spent years trying to get Lewis away from him, once organising for a “dossier of dirt” on Maloney to be put under every room’s door at The Mirage in Las Vegas before a bout – a lot of rooms.

Heavyweights are what Maloney does best. Before Lewis, he had a steady stream who did not make it, on his small-hall shows in southeast London. This week he flies out to the WBC convention in Manila, the Philippines, where he will be negotiating with the biggest movers and shakers. Little Frank is walking tall again.

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