NORTHERN CYPRUS CHEERS DAVID HAYE’S WIN OVER NIKOLAY VALUEV

The victory for David Haye on Saturday night was not only one for Bermondsey, London, and the United Kingdom, it was also one for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

The rather lovely harbour town of Kyrenia has more recently been annexed by Haye and his trainer, Adam Booth, and the locals rather like it.

They pat Haye on the back and pay him compliments; Haye barely understands a word of it but the relationship works swimmingly.

Haye started training here two years ago after Booth suggested they pay it a visit. The trainer’s father was from Northern Cyprus and he fancied the value of property there.

As Haye recently put it, he thought he was going to “a tourist destination with lager louts”, but he has since learnt the difference between north and south and has worked out that the quiet life is best achieved by not expressing a political preference either way.

In some previous bouts, though, he has gone so far as to fight with a small flag of the Republic stitched on to his shorts and this has gone down exceptionally well.

There is no internationally recognised football association in Northern Cyprus, nor a recognised Olympic association, so Haye is pretty much the only sporting hero they get to shout about.

Northern Cyprus is now a second home that Haye and Booth normally use when preparing for fights. They both own villas on the coast and they have renovated a building at the top of a rough, one-track lane and turned it into a state-of-the-art gym.