The London-born fighter won a points decision against his giant Russian opponent to claim the crown in Nuremberg, Germany.

The fight had been billed as a “David versus Goliath” match up by promoters, owing to the dramatic height and weight differences of the fighters.

Haye has become Britain’s first heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis retired six years ago.

He scored 116-112 points on the scorecards of two judges, the third giving it a 114-114 tie.

After the fight he said: “This means everything to me. Since I was a little baby I wanted to be heavyweight champion of the world.

“It’s amazing, I dreamt of this now its reality, it’s real… he wasn’t hitting me so as long as you are not getting hit you are okay.

“I hit his head early in the fight but it was the hardest thing I’ve ever hit, it was like hitting a brick wall.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve broken my hand. I made him look like an amateur. People doubted my skills… but I did enough to win.”

His win means bookmakers will have to pay out around £2 million, spokesman for Coral Simon Clare said.

Betting was split between patriots and boxing fans who opted to back the enormous Russian.

Bookmaker Paddy Power said it had seen four times as much money put on Valuev than on Haye.

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