Haye grew up in Bermondsey, south London. He lived in a two bedroom flat in an 18th floor apartment with his Jamaican father, British mother, sister, and brother. "I had the best of both nationalities," Haye said.
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"On the outside it doesn't look that great, but I had a lot of love," Haye said. "I was actually very fortunate. I think I was actually the only kid in my class at one stage that actually had a father in the home." Haye credits his father Deron for teaching him the importance of hard work, pulling 13 hour shifts as a panel beater at a railway station.
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At home, the atmosphere was loving, but competitive. "It was always about being first, about winning. There were no prizes for second place," he added. "My mother and father said: 'Do whatever you want, as long as you're the best at it.'" From a young age, Haye felt he had superior strength and speed to his peers.
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When Haye was three-years-old, he began saying that he'd grow up to be the heavyweight champion of the world. Haye remembered his nerves before his first fight at the Fitzroy Lodge in 1991, when he was 10-years-old. "If I'm going to be the heavyweight champion of the world, I should be able to beat this 10-year-old kid."
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The 10-year-old Haye won his first fight in 12 seconds, by knockout. "It was a bit scary." he said. "Youngsters don't normally knock each other out. They don't normally punch hard enough or generate enough power to knock out the other fighters." By the time he was 14, Haye was boxing 30-year-olds.
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At 18, when Haye was an amateur boxer, he was scouted by fashion photographer Bruce Webber. Initially skeptical of the brand he thought was called "Apple Crumble and Fish," Haye agreed when he heard the $720-a-day fee (for retailer Abercrombie & Fitch.)
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At the 1999 World Boxing Championships, in Houston, Texas, Haye took a break from competing by taking a trip to the mall. In the store windows, he saw massive posters of himself from the shoot. At this point Haye realized that Abercrombie and Fitch was a big deal.
I truly believe my advantage over anyone I get in the ring with is my ability to see what they are going to do before they do it," Haye told the audience at Advertising Week Europe. "I’ve got a really canny knack for avoiding big punches or clean punches.
We asked Haye where he gets his self-belief from. He replied: "It really helped to have a positive family. Positivity breeds positivity. There was no negativity when I was a youngster — that really did impact me when I was a young adult."
Haye turned professional when he was 21. He described how it feels to turn on The Hayemaker in the ring: "It feels good. It doesn't feel like I'm in it long enough, because, when I'm in it, people get knocked out quick. 25 of my 27 victories have come via knockout. So I'm there, I'm just dishing out punishment on people."
Outside of the ring, Haye enjoys being a celebrity. "I believe when you're the best at a certain discipline, the rewards will come ... As long as I'm covering all bases from my side, from a marketing and branding point of view, good things will happen when they're ready." He said the worst thing about fame was the constant requests for selfies.
The boxer's ambitions extend beyond his sport. "I want to be a well respected actor ... Not a cameo part. A genuinely well-respected actor," Haye revealed. "I think I’ll be just as successful in the acting world as I am in the boxing world, but that’s going to take some time."
Haye is concerned with animal welfare issues. He turned vegan after watching documentaries about animal cruelty in food production. "I've got my own plant-based protein shake," Haye said. "People think you only get protein from meat, which isn't true. Apes, for instance, are vegan."
Haye did not rule out a move into politics, like former heavy weight boxer Vitali Klitschko, who is now Mayor of Kyiv. "I’ve got a set of goals to complete. Personal goals, sporting goals, and business goals," Haye said. "Once I've achieved them, which I will, I’ll achieve all of them, then maybe politics."
Haye became WBA Heavyweight Champion in 2009 by beating Nikolai Valuev, who had a record 11-inch and seven-stone advantage over him. It was billed as David versus Goliath. Before the fight, Haye called Valuev "the ugliest thing I have ever seen."
Haye said he wants to bring boxing out of "the dark ages." For his comeback fight, he snubbed subscription TV channels and instead opted for UK comedy channel Dave, which is free-to-view. Haye described this as a move to bring boxing to "the masses," so "big brands and big companies" would notice him.
His comeback fight was also the world's first boxing match to broadcast live through virtual reality. Haye explained that he has a VR headset at home. Haye said he watches "these cool videos that you can download. I show them to my mates. There are a lot of people that are unaware these things exist."
Haye's chance at the unified world heavyweight champion title came in 2011 against Wladimir Klitschko. Before the fight, Haye caused controversy by wearing a t-shirt which showed him holding the severed heads of the two Klitschko brothers.
However, the fight did not go as planned for Haye, who lost to Wladimir Klitschko. "I failed that night," he told The Independent in 2014. "I let a lot of people down, including myself. I betrayed the trust and belief I had obtained from so many people. I lied to them all." Haye briefly retired soon after the fight.
Haye came back from retirement to fight Derek Chisora. The fight was scheduled after a brawl erupted between the pair at a press conference for Chisora's WBC heavyweight title loss to Vitali Klitschko in 2012. Chisora had threatened to "shoot" and "kill" Haye.
At the press conference before the fight, held at West Ham United's football stadium, the two boxers were separated by a metal fence. Haye won the fight by technical knockout in the 5th round.
The British boxer suffered a potentially career-ending shoulder injury in 2013, which left him "depressed." Haye went to see famous sports doctor Dr Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt, telling him that he wanted to fight again in four months. The doctor told Haye it was touch-and-go whether he'd be able to fight again at all.
In January of this year, Haye made his comeback. He knocked out Mark De Mori 131 seconds into the bout. "I believe it’s my destiny to regain the heavyweight title. I believe I’ve got a lot more left," Haye said.
Haye enjoyed the occasion. "Everyone was dressed up in ball gowns," he said. "Benedict Cumberbatch and Idris Elba [were there, it was a] real nice, classy crowd." Haye says his next fight may also be on the Dave TV channel. "I just really want the masses to see this comeback. We only had one week to promote that fight and the numbers proved to me that people want to see boxing."
Haye's next fight is on May 21 against Arnold "The Cobra" Gjergjaj. Haye also talked about his intention to fight the current world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, who he described as "the real deal," sometime in 2017.
