Tony Bellew Talks David Haye, Heavyweight Division, Confirms Meeting With the UFC

[Primo Carnera]

neither fighter had anywhere to go except rematch - and with question marks over ending of first made it all that easier

I can see same outcome as don't reckon Haye's body is up to it - unless he can spark him in 3-4 rounds.

That’s not true, Bellew had choices... they all involved him getting savagely beaten and probably knocked unconscious but still they’re choices

Hey, we've all got choices. I could choose to jump in front of a train, but I ain't likely to.
I don't think it's anything to do with getting knocked unconscious, it's just down to Money, pure and simple.
If he had choices and Haye never, why would he choose him?

[Batman]

I can't help but think that this fight should be nothing more than a massive flop, Hearn says that they were looking at other options but the fans and everyone that they spoke to were calling for this fight and this is the one that the public wants.

I just can't see it, I can't imagine even the casuals (god I'm sick of using that word when discussing boxing) buying it this time.

[GaMo]

No different to Mayweather vs McGregor... it’s just a money fight with no meaning in the division

[X]

True, this is a fight with as much real meaning as Mayweather v McGregor.

Haye was always a superb athlete with excellent power, but he never properly learned how to box. He has always had technical flaws, and his unorthodox training methods haven't done his body much good. Thing is, after his divorce, he needs a couple of good paydays before he swans off to reality TV.

Bellew has made the most of his pretty mediocre talent. Two big paydays against a part timer is much better than getting his face smashed in by Oleksander Usyk.

[Fenster]

Bellew is a much bigger star after the first fight, the funker is never off the telly (other sporting shows and the like) and doing award shows and premiers and what not. What with the drama (dream stuff for the general/casual fan - man with one leg, heroics, knockdowns, KO) and the question mark that it left this will be lapped up.

You lot all hate Bellew and Haye but they're two of the most popular/famous fighters in the country. Their tickets sales and viewing figures piss all over anyone that's not AJ. And you just have to watch that latest press conference to know why - expert salesmen (just look at Eddie and Adam Smith's boats).

[Master]

All those wankers in one room makes me feel like vomiting. Smiling all the way to the bank with their con job poor man's version of Floyd v McGregor.

Sky with all its channels and millions will sell it for all it is worth does not mean that the fight is any good or worth merit.

[Master]

Last November, at the five-star luxury hotel The Dorchester in Mayfair, David Haye told Tony Bellew told that he was looking forward to “standing over your limp body in the ring,” before bounding forward and landing a short left-hook on the Liverpudlian. And so the tone was set for one of the most acrimonious build-ups to a heavyweight fight in British boxing history.

Worse was to come. The recording of an episode of Sky’s amusingly earnest The Gloves Are Off television show had to be halted when Haye reportedly told Bellew to prepare for a post-fight trip to hospital, while in Liverpool the former heavyweight champion of the world decided the best way of responding to an enthusiastic rendition of Who the f****** hell are you? was to describe the braying Merseyside crowd as “f****** retards”. For some reason, it didn’t go down too well.

Eventually, the British Boxing Board of Control decided enough was enough: it was time for a strongly worded statement. General secretary Robert Smith let it be known that Britain’s boxing chiefs were unimpressed with the pair’s “extremely disappointing comments” and, a few months later, Haye was fined £25k for his behaviour. Or 5.95 per cent of his losers cheque.
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But the graceless comments weren’t as disappointing as the fight itself. Haye started well but ruptured his Achilles tendon in the sixth, with Bellew eventually felling him in the eleventh. Afterwards, both men hugged in the middle of the ring, exchanging platitudes as Bellew tried unsuccessfully to hold back the tears. “I've never been in a fight like that before, he's the man,” Haye smiled, before hobbling back to his dressing room.

And that, it seemed, was that, until a rematch was confirmed last week and officially announced yesterday at yet another swanky London hotel, this time at the Park Plaza in Westminster. It was a curiously sombre affair, largely devoid of trash-talk and tastelessness, and one that will have left Matchroom head honcho Eddie Hearn scratching his brylcreemed head nervously. After all, how do you sell a hate-fuelled heavyweight rematch when all the hate seems to have dried up?

The first sign that something was amiss came when Haye responded to the first question of the afternoon not by animatedly describing how he was going to sever Bellew’s head from his body, or something similar, but instead praising his rival for his performance in the first fight.

“Going into the first fight his motivation was clear for all to see – he wanted to secure his family and that should be first and foremost in any athlete’s mind,” he began, soon moving on to gush about his newfound respect for a man he once told “you’re not going to be able to chew your food after fighting me.”

“We have both shared the ring together and when you do that with somebody, whatever respect wasn’t there before is there now,” he added. “And now I know that turning up in the condition I arrived in before is not enough, I have learnt to respect what he brings to the table and I have to be bigger, faster and quicker.”

Haye cut a more reserved figure than in previous pressers.

He did finally flick a verbal jab Bellew’s way with a long, rambling analogy about how the his decision to agree to a rematch was akin to trying to rob the same bank twice, but the Scouser sat down at the other end of the table, rolled his eyes and sighed. He had other things on his mind.

Bellew is grieving after the sudden death of his brother-in-law, Ashley Roberts, in August and had little appetite to engage in the fun and games that had characterised the press conferences of their past. “This is all nonsense to me,” he sighed after Haye had finally finished talking. “My life has been put into reflection recently – what I have been through over the last month I would not wish on my worst enemies.”

It became clear that there was going to be no snide short left-hooks or warnings from the BBBofC this time around, and a few of the photographers jockeying for position in the front row lowered their DSLRs.

Bellew wasn't in the mood to crack jokes

Not that Bellew could completely ignore Haye’s provocations. “I fight because I enjoy fighting,” he said in response to his rival enquiring into the source of motivation now that he is financially secure after the first fight. “I fight because I love walking into the ring, I love punching you in the face and I love being punched in the face. I don’t know why. I admit that I’ve got a screw loose.”

In truth, it wasn't an entirely satisfactory answer for why Bellew has decided to risk it all against Haye for a second time, on what was a strangely unsatisfactory afternoon. And it is difficult to see how this fight will garner as much interest as the first when, not only has the hate fizzled away, but so too has the allure of watching them go head-to-head for the very first time.

One brief and relatively amicable face-off later, and the pair were bundled away to begin their fight camps ahead of the December 17 contest. With Haye now 36 years of age and Bellew set to turn 35 a fortnight before the contest, they both have a lot of training ahead of them. And on this showing, they may have a fair amount of promotional work to do, too.

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/boxin...cid=spartanntp