Boxing: Haye quick to make his mark as Burke realises potential

It took David Haye just two rounds to arrive on the British boxing scene, but it has taken David Burke, the winner of the World Boxing Union lightweight title on Saturday, nearly six years to receive the same type of publicity.

Yesterday at York Hall, Bethnal Green, Haye's professional debut ended at the end of round two when Hull's Tony Booth quit with an injured rib after taking a nasty beating for the two completed rounds. The fight took place 45 minutes before the advertised time on the entrance tickets because the BBC was keen to film its new protegé and put him on television.

The night before, at the International Centre in Brentwood, Burke finally produced a performance that many had thought him capable of to out-point Colin Dunne and win the WBU lightweight title.

Dunne was attempting to defend his title for the eighth time, but 10 years of hard fights finally showed, and there were moments when he looked like a very old man indeed. But he is not too old for the inevitable rematch and the closeness of the final decision, which was split, means the pair are very likely to meet next year. Hopefully, when they do, it will be in their native Liverpool.

In round one and round three Dunne was stunned and ended up on the canvas, though he later insisted that neither of the knock-downs were genuine. In professional boxing, if one fighter ends up on the canvas it means the other has won the round by a margin of two points rather than one. On Saturday night, the margin of error in the score cards from the officials was just one point in favour of both boxers, which means that the controversial knock-downs were the decisive factor in Dunne's defeat.

After the genuine drama of the Dunne and Burke fight it was inevitable that Haye's first outing without a vest would be one-sided. The boxing business can be ruthless and watching Booth take two rounds of punishment was not pleasant.

Booth lost for the 72nd time and insisted that Haye is as good as anyone who had previously beaten him. Haye's next fight will hopefully be in January, and it will no doubt prove a difficult task matching him unless the fee that opponents receive improves, because he is an exceptional talent.

The last time Haye fought at York Hall he was knocked out by Coventry's Jim Twite, but Twite then turned professional and denied Haye the chance of revenge. Twite has since taken advantage of a new amateur boxing regulation, which enables boxers who have had less than four bouts as professionals to return to the amateur ranks, so there is no chance that Haye will get a rematch.