By Scott Gilfoid: Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn says his fighter WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew (27-2-1, 17 KOs) will looking to face former two division world champion David Haye (28-2, 26 KOs) in February of 2016.
That’s the month they’re looking at for that fight, which Hearn says will be taking place at heavyweight. Hearn believes Bellew will come into the fight with Haye around 210 pounds, and he thinks Haye can boil down to the same weight. That would mean Haye would need to lose at least 15 pounds from where he’s at right now to make the fight a possibility. I’m not sure that I would do it if I were Haye, but I guess he won’t mind stripping some muscle off and then dehydrating himself.
I think it would mess him up for afterwards when he needs to put that muscle back on to contend with IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. It wouldn’t be surprised in the least if Hearn immediately looked to match Haye against Joshua in his next fight after the Bellew fight. Hearn also promotes Joshua as well as Bellew.
Putting together a fight between Joshua and Haye after the Bellew fight would be a great strategy for Hearn to get Haye while his body is going through the shock of having taken off massive muscle weight for the Bellew fight. I mean, I think Haye can put the muscle back on over time, but I sure as heck don’t see that happening in three to four months, which is probably how much time Haye would have before he would need to fight Joshua after the Bellew fight.
If I’m Haye, I would tell Hearn where he can stick his 210lb catch-weight idea. I wouldn’t do it. If Bellew wants a fight against Haye, he should be willing to fight him at whatever weight Haye comes in for the fight rather than looking to get a handicap in the weight department.
In the time being, Bellew will be fighting at cruiserweight this September. The potential opponents for Bellew are from this list: Denis Lebedev, Grigory Drozd, or Mairis Briedis.
Hearn is still hoping the World Boxing Council will give Bellew a voluntary defense for his first defense despite the fact that Bellew captured the vacant WBC title last May with his third round knockout win over Ilunga Makabu. For champions winning vacant titles, they’re supposed to face their mandatory challengers in their first defense.
Bellew can get around this rule if he fights a unification fight against the 36-year-ol d Lebedev or one of the other champions. Hearn doesn’t appear to have any interest in matching Bellew in a unification fight against the winner of the Krzystof Glowacki vs. Oleksandr Usyk fight. I wonder why Hearn hasn’t mentioned wanting to put Bellew against either of those two? They are a lot younger than Lebedev, and both have one-punch power.
“For Tony, he really wants a high-profile name at cruiserweight or a unification fight in September and then he could move on to the Haye fight in February or March next year,” said Hearn to skysports.com. “You have to remember, Tony came down to 200 pounds and would probably have preferred to fight at 210 against Ilunga Makabu. Can Haye get down to 210 or thereabouts? Probably.”
None of this weight business will probably matter if Bellew fights one of the names being mentioned for his September fight. I do not see Bellew being able to beat Lebedev, Grigory Drozd or Mairis Briedis. Those guys are very good fighters, and they’re capable of bouncing huge power shots off Bellew’s head for 12 rounds.
They’re not going to throw one power shot in the 1st round like Makabu did, and then turn around and fight with their backs against the ropes for the remainder of the fight. I am still surprised at how horrible Makabu was. If Bellew is hoping that Lebedev, Drozd or Briedis will not throw punches and just hang around with their backs against the ropes, then I think he needs to clear that pipe dream from his head right away, because I don’t see that happening. Those guys are going to be in forward gear against Bellew all night long, and they’re going to be throwing a TON of power shots. You won’t see them resting against the ropes, because these guys don’t do that. They actually fight and don’t play the sparring partner role.
“Tony is 33 and the Haye fight is so big financially, compared to other fights out there, that it is something you’ve got to take seriously,” said Hearn.
If I were Hearn and Bellew, I would vacate the WBC title and mail it back to the WBC’s headquarters in a box. I think Bellew is better off not having the WBC title because of the requirements that he fight guys that will likely plant him for the 10 count. Bellew should just use his win over Makabu as a springboard for the Haye fight next year.
Bellew can fight a scrub in September from either the fringe contender level ranks or another 2nd tier guy like the ones he’s been mostly fighting since moving up to cruiserweight. I don’t think the British boxing public will care too much whether Bellew has the WBC title or not when he faces Haye next year. The fans will remember Bellew’s win over Makabu, and see that as a sign that he’s the best fighter in the cruiserweight division.
Obviously, you can’t say Bellew is the best cruiserweight in the division because there are at least 10 very, very good cruiserweights that Bellew would need to beat for him to be really the best. Heck, I can’t even see Bellew beating guys like Marco Huck, Murat Gassiev, Dmitry Kudryashov, and Olanrewaj Durodola.
Those guys are just contenders right now, but I still see them knocking Bellew out. At 22, Gassiev is a real talent that is clearly on his way to becoming a future champion. I also think Briedis is an amazing fighter, which is probably why we’re going to see Bellew dragging his feet when it comes to fighting him. Honestly, I don’t see Bellew EVER fighting Briedis. I see him swerving that fight. Gassiev and Briedis are like Golovkin type talents in my view.