THE HITMAKER & THE HAYEMAKER

[AN EXTRACT FROM A 24 PAGE FEATURE IN HAYEMAKER BOOKAZINE VOLUME THREE.]

What is popularity in the 21st century? Is it when over 500 million people have watched your music video on YouTube, or perhaps when a single lock of your hair is sold for $40,000 on eBay? How about when you sell-out Madison Square Garden in a mere 22 minutes, or when a 3-D film based solely around one of your shows becomes the highest grossing concert movie since ‘Purple Rain’ in 1984?

Although this all sounds like throwaway hyperbole and a farfetched dream, Never Say Never. Seventeen-year-old Justin Bieber can lay claim to all of the above and more. If you don’t believe me, ask any one of the ten million Beliebers currently following him on Twitter or, better still, get him inside the boxing ring, known to many as the most pure and brutally honest arena of them all. No place for liars and nowhere to hide.

Now, we already know Canadian superstar Bieber is a teenager known for his hits - albeit those of the number one variety and perhaps not the kind produced from one’s left and right fist. Nevertheless, WBA world heavyweight champion David Haye gained an exclusive insight into exactly how hard Bieber hits, when inviting the 17-year-old to step into the boxing ring with him earlier this year. The odd couple convened one evening at the boxer’s Vauxhall gymnasium, and it’s fair to say Bieber made quite the impression, both inside and outside the ring.

words: ELLIOT WORSELL
photography: LEO CACKETT