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Haye vs Bellew: The journey from cruiserweight to heavyweight

Who else has fought in both weight divisions?

18 NOV 1994:   ROY JONES JR. (LEFT), LANDS A LEFT ON JAMES TONEY TONIGHT DURING THEIR SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BOUT AT THE MGM GRAND IN LAS VEGAS, N

David Haye and Tony Bellew have fought at cruiserweight and heavyweight, but it's a well-worn path for some famous fighters...

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Evander Holyfield

Holyfield remains the standard bearer for the move from cruiserweight to heavyweight although, eventually, even he found himself out-sized by some of boxing's behemoths.

Before the fights with Mike Tyson that would come to define Holyfield's career, the Olympic bronze medallist rose through the cruiserweight ranks and won his maiden world championship, the WBA title, in his 12th pro fight, two years after his debut.

Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield
Image: Holyfield twice beat Tyson despite the infamous ear injury

The IBF, WBC and lineal titles were collected inside 18 fights and just four years, before a new challenge beckoned among the big boys of boxing.

He swiftly knocked off former champion Pinklon Thomas before, in 1990, Holyfield became world heavyweight champion by defeating Buster Douglas, who was fresh off his iconic upset of Tyson.

Tyson was on an inevitable collision course with Holyfield although a fight would be six years in the making. In that time, new champion Holyfield added legendary pair George Foreman and Larry Holmes to his unbeaten record.

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES:  IBF and WBA Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield (L) ducks out of the way of a punch by WBC heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis (
Image: Holyfield struggled with Lennox Lewis' size in a draw and a defeat

Holyfield exchanged wins and losses with Riddick Bowe with the belt on the line, before losing the decider, before the first Tyson fight finally presented itself in 1996. As a major underdog, Holyfield stopped Tyson in the 11th round to reclaim the world heavyweight title and set up a rematch that will never be forgotten.

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Tyson infamously bit off a chunk of Holyfield's ear, ending the second fight in a disqualification but simultaneously writing both boxers into folk-lore forever. Holyfield would lose, and draw, against Lennox Lewis before his career petered out, aged 51 - he was a four-time heavyweight champion, and undisputed ruler of two divisions during his pomp.

James Toney

The allure of 'Lights Out' will always be his rise from middleweight to heavyweight, partially due to his thorough enjoyment of life's excesses, but also enabled by his mastery of boxing's defensive arts.

LAS VEGAS - OCTOBER 4:  Evander Holyfield can't block the left-hand punch to the body by James Toney in a heavyweight fight at the Mandalay Bay Casino on O
Image: Toney (right) owns a stoppage win over Holyfield as a heavyweight

He became IBF middleweight champion after 27 unbeaten fights, defending it six times before stepping up to take Iran Barkley's super-middleweight belt. Toney managed 46 unbeaten outings before losing his title to Roy Jones Jr, prompting a brief stint at light-heavyweight, before continuing his remarkable ascent up the weight classes.

In his 73rd pro fight, a 35-year-old Toney won the IBF cruiserweight title from Vassiliy Jirov before immediately stepping up to heavyweight to dish out a beating to Holyfield.

Toney, renowned for the dark arts of the boxing ring, never became a world heavyweight champion despite once holding the belt aloft - he out-pointed John Ruiz but then failed a drugs test, rendering the result defunct.

James Toney (L) failed a drugs test after beating John Ruiz
Image: Toney (left) never became a heavyweight champion despite out-pointing John Ruiz

Toney would draw with Hasim Rahman in only other bid for the title, before his age and lifestyle would catch up with him. His penultimate fight was losing a Sky Sports Prizefighter semi-final in 2013.

Roy Jones Jr

The exceptional Jones Jr, considered among the elite handful of all-time pugilists, went a step further than 'Lights Out' Toney by winning world titles from middleweight, through cruiserweight to heavyweight.

He beat the great Bernard Hopkins in 1993 for the vacant IBF middleweight belt, a result that would be avenged 17 years later. Jones Jr, still unbeaten in 27 fights, beat Toney for the IBF super-middleweight title as his immaculate rise continued.

Roy Jones Jr (L) jumped at the chance to face John Ruiz
Image: Jones Jr (left) beat John Ruiz for the world heavyweight title

He was disqualified in his first light-heavyweight world title fight against Montell Griffin but immediately won a rematch to conquer his third division.

Undisputed as the world light-heavyweight champion, Jones Jr peculiarly bypassed cruiserweight altogether in his bid for boxing's biggest division. With just one disqualification loss in 49 fights, Jones Jr won his first heavyweight match against John Ruiz with the WBA belt on the line.

American-Russian boxer Roy Jones Jr. (L) exchanges punches with British boxer Enzo Maccarinelli during their bout in Moscow on December 12, 2015.
46-year-o
Image: Jones Jr, aged 46 (left), lost a cruiserweight fight to Enzo Maccarinelli in December 2015

He vacated heavyweight for his natural home thereafter, beginning a difficult period that included defeats to Antonio Tarver (twice), Hopkins and Joe Calzaghe among others.

Aged 48 Jones Jr is still boxing in the cruiserweight division, most recently extending his record to 65-9 earlier this month. A four-weight world champ, there is no sign of retirement yet.

Jean-Marc Mormeck

The Frenchman is best-known for being the defending champion when Haye won his first world title, as a cruiserweight.

WBA-WBC Boxing World Champion France's Jean-Marc Mormeck (R) fights with EBU Cruiserweight British champion boxer David Haye to defend his title, in Levall
Image: Mormeck (right) was beaten on home soil by David Haye

He came up as a light-heavyweight, overcoming two defeats in his first five fights, in a career that rarely took him outside of his homeland. He won the WBA cruiserweight title in Marseille from Virgil Hill, a veteran of fights with Thomas Hearns and Jones Jr, a result that he duplicated in the rematch.

Mormeck's achievements grew by unifying the division, taking Wayne Braithwaite's plethora of belts - he lost the assortment of gold to O'Neil Bell in America before quickly winning the titles back in France.

That's when Haye, the European cruiserweight champion, came calling. In Paris in 2007, Haye dished out a seventh-round stoppage to become a world champion for the first time.

Ukrainian heavyweight boxing world champion Wladimir Klitschko knocks out French challenger Jean-Marc Mormeck in the IBF, IBO, WBO and WBA title bout at th
Image: Mormeck's heavyweight title fight against Klitschko ended in a KO defeat

The result sent Mormeck into the heavyweight division where he took Fres Oquendo's scalp before beating Timur Ibragimov for the vacant WBA belt. He had become a two-weight world champion, but was immediately put back in his place by Wladimir Klitschko in a unification fight.

Watch David Haye vs Tony Bellew at The O2 on March 4, live on Sky Sports Box Office. Book the event online here or via your Sky remote.

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