Americans customarily regard British heavyweights with the contempt they otherwise reserve for English weather, coffee and jazz.

They have good reason. Before David Haye upset the Russian giant Nikolai Valuev in Germany, only three Britons had held a generally recognised world title.

The first was Bob Fitzsimmons in the 19th century, the second was the over-rated Frank Bruno and the third the under-rated Lennox Lewis.

Lewis’s refusal to do any more than he needed to ensure victory irked the American boxing fraternity who like more flash and action from their fighters. However, the former Olympic champion eventually won their reluctant respect by defeating Evander Holyfield and demolishing a burnt-out Mike Tyson. He then demonstrated impeccable timing outside the ring as well as in by retiring in 2003 with his brains unscrambled and his fortune intact.

Among the heavyweights, only Americans Gene Tunney and Rocky Marciano had previously retired while still world champion.

Now there is Haye, who has unexpectedly thrown open the division at just the right time for the United States where the sport is in danger of dying from boredom.

Before Saturday night, the four main heavyweight belts were held by Valuev and the Klitschko brothers from Ukraine. Neither WBC champion Vitali or younger brother Vladimir are as tedious as Valuev but neither do they hold a licence to thrill.

One world champion from the old eastern bloc would just about have been tolerated in the United States. Three is two too many.

Agents by the very nature of their trade must be treated with caution but Haye’s U.S. promoter Richard Schaefer could be excused his ebullient mood after Haye had triumphed in Nuremberg.

Schaefer predicted Haye could earn $120 million by fighting one of the Klitschko brothers in the United States, provided he survives his mandatory WBA title defence against American John Ruiz.

“This is the kind of event which is not a boxing event, it’s a global event,” said Schaefer. “If he comes and fights in the United States against one of the Klitschkos, I have no doubt that the total global receipts could be close to $120 million for one fight.

“David’s win was perfectly executed. Valuev is an amazing attraction but Haye is the start of a new generation. We have been waiting for somebody like him, with talent and charisma, to enter the heavyweight division.”

The sight of Valuev’s co-promoter Don King at ringside in Nuremburg, an anticipatory grin firmly in place as Haye celebrated, showed the wiliest operator in the sport realised the Briton’s box office potential. King, who switched his allegiance effortlessly from Joe Frazier to George Foreman after the latter had made no contest of their 1973 fight in Jamaica, said Haye “had put on a brilliant performance and executed it perfectly”.

“The Americans will embrace David because of his skills inside the ring but equally important are his skills outside the ring,” Schaefer said. “He is charismatic, he is good-looking, he is well-spoken. He knows how to entertain and that is what we were looking for, not just in the U.S. but around the world.

“The world has been waiting for a heavyweight champion who cannot just fight but who is charismatic and here he is and his name is David Haye.”

PHOTO: Britain’s David Haye, the new WBA heavyweight boxing world champion, speaks during a news conference in London November 9, 2009. REUTERS/Andrew Winning