EVEN IN DEFEAT, David Haye couldn’t bring himself to admit that he had simply been outclassed by Wladimir Klitschko in last night’s heavyweight unification bout in Hamburg.

Controlling proceedings from the opening bell, the 35-year-old Ukranian never looked to be in any real danger as he cruised to a unanimous points victory on the judges’ scorecards (117-109, 118-108 and 116-110).

In truth, it was a timid performance from Haye who, after months of pre-fight bluster and pantomime trash talk, failed to live up to his billing.

Aside from an over-the-top right hand which briefly rattled Klitschko in the third, the Briton simply couldn’t connect with the quality of punches which would have forced his bigger opponent to respect him.

“I might not have been at my best but I gave it as much as I could,” Haye said afterwards, explaining that a broken baby toe on his right foot had left him at a disadvantage before the opening bell had even sounded.

“I couldn’t push on my right leg. Something happened in training and I didn’t want to pull out.

“I broke my toe on my right foot. I couldn’t push off the right foot to throw the right hand.”

I thought adrenaline would get me through it but it was tough. It’s incredibly frustrating.

Haye’s injury, however genuine it may be, has earned him little sympathy. Speaking to Sportsweek on BBC Radio Five Live this morning, boxing promoter Frank Warren slammed the former WBA Heavyweight Champion as a “cry baby.”

“He shouldn’t be in the fight if he had a broken toe,” Warren said. “Why be a cry baby after the event? It’s ridiculous.”

“When your title’s on the line you’ve got to give your all and he just didn’t do that.

“To talk about toes and whatever afterwards is just cry-baby stuff and I thought it was quite embarrassing. You’d think he’d be a bit more gracious in defeat.”

It wouldn’t have made any difference if he had a broken toe or not. For me it was a fight that I never could see him winning.

Audley Harrison, who lasted only three rounds against Haye in a WBA title bout last November, told the Londoner not to expect any sympathy.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, Harrison said that “injuries are part and parcel and once we go in the ring, if we mention the injuries we are carrying, we don’t get any sympathy. That’s just the nature of the beast.”

When we mention it we just get crushed so if I was David I wouldn’t even bother mentioning it.

“He got himself in position, he took some big shots in the fight, he didn’t fold, but he was unable to do it.”