Guarding the face: ex-boxer Haye launches mask to fight COVID-19

Former boxing heavyweight world champion David Haye poses for a photograph following the launch of his premium range of high-tech face masks, ahead of the British Government's law on wearing face masks in shops coming into effect on Friday 24th July, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, July 23, 2020. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

LONDON (Reuters) - Former world heavyweight champion boxer David Haye launched a face mask on Thursday that he hopes will prove a stylish and eco-friendly way to protect people in gyms, shops and ringside, as the sport tries to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Launching The Black Mask Company, Haye said the design was inspired by police masks in Vietnam, where there have been no recorded deaths from COVID-19, and that he wanted to help protect the environment.