By Scott Gilfoid: Fresh off his victory over the aging 37-year-old fringe contender BJ Flores from last Saturday night, WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew is now targeting heavyweight David Haye for his next fight in 2017. Bellew knocked out Flores in the 3rd round at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England in a voluntary defense. Haye and Bellew want to fight each other on pay-per-view in the UK. Is it a fight that will sell? I’d watch Bellew-Haye on free television, but Id NEVER pay to see a joke fight like this on pay-perr-view.
Without Bellew having fought at heavyweight before, how do you believe the fight would be a real fight and not just a rip off circus type of match? I think Bellew and Haye are doing it wrong. If they want to fight each other and make a killing in pay-per-view, then Bellew needs to vacate his WBC cruiserweight title, and then move up to heavyweight and beat one of the following heavyweights: Shannon Briggs, Kubrat Pulev, Luis Ortiz, Joseph Parker, Andy Ruiz Jr., Alexander Povetkin, Carlos Takam, Eric Molina, or Jarrell Miller.
If Bellew beats one of those guys, then I think it would make a fight between him and Haye more believable to me and to many boxing fans. I think Jarrell Miller would be the ideal opponent for Bellew to create some buzz. If he beats Miller, then he gets the Haye fight. Do I think Bellew beats Miller? No, not in this life time, but he at least could prove that his fight against Haye isn’t a COMPLETE JOKE. Right now, a fight between Bellew and Haye looks like a money grab. I see it as another Kell Brook vs. Gennady Golovkin type of mismatch in which a smaller fighter from a weight class before another fighter moves up without proving himself at the weight class and gets a big fight. It just turns the sport of boxing into a sad exhibition type of situation, because fans wind up seeing mismatches that cost a lot of money. Now if Bellew would take on someone of talent at heavyweight to show that he rates a fight with Haye, at least the boxing fans would believe the fight is on the level.
The World Boxing Council allowed Bellew to make a voluntary defense for his first defense of his WBC title, even though he was supposed to defend against his mandatory challenger Mairis Briedis. Bellew wanted the fight against fringe contender Flores rather than a fight against Briedis, which would have been a true toss-up fight given his punching power and talent.
Bellew doesn’t see Haye as a real heavyweight. He feels that Haye is still a cruiserweight fighting out of his normal weight division, and he wants to whip his backside. Bellew claims he beat Haye up in sparring many years ago, and he feels that he can get the better of him once he takes him past the 2nd round, which is when he feels he’s less dangerous.
Bellew was yacking like usual after the fight last night saying he’s the best cruiserweight in the world. The claim would make a heck of a lot more sense if Bellew would start fighting the best in the world at the top of the cruiserweight division to prove his claim instead of picking from the bottom of the rankings by selecting #14 WBC Flores. I’m just saying. If Bellew he’s the best, then why did he pick from the bottom to fight an old 37-year-old Flores, who was recently beaten by Beibut Shumenov just last year in 2015. That loss for Flores should have disqualified him for fighting for a world title. Instead, I think it might have made him a more attractive opponent for Bellew.
Bellew said this about a fight against Haye to IFL TV:
“I was so much quicker than he was,” said Bellew about Flores. “I was hitting him to the body and to the head. No one has ever done that to him. He has to understand that there are levels in this game, and I’m the best cruiserweight in the world.”
Speaking about David Haye, Bellew said, “He’s probably the most dangerous heavyweight in the world without a belt. If you’re the best heavyweight champion in the world, you won’t want to fight him. Go past two rounds, that playboy [expletive]. He’s not going to know where I’m coming from. Just go past the first two…I’m going to get paid a lot more for kicking his [expletive]I wanted to get in his face. I was thinking he might want to throw the first one like the Chisora, and if he did my plan was to slip to my left and crack him with a left hook. I want the biggest fights out there, but I also want to unify the division. But I’d love to shut that playboy [expletive] up. It is a big money fight.”
It sure would be better for Bellew and for the boxing fans for him to move up to heavyweight and fight some actual contenders BEFORE he faces Haye. For me, I wouldn’t pay a dime to see Belle and Haye fight each other, because I wouldn’t believe in the fight as being a serious one. Without Bellew having proven himself as a guy that can give Haye problems by fighting at heavyweight, it’s a waste of time to pay to see the fight between them in my view.
Haye said this about Bellew to IFL TV:
“He said I’m getting it. I didn’t believe he’d beat him. He’s definitely better than I thought he was. I thought BJ would have too much fire power for him. He took some big shots from BJ, but he dished it back out. I’m a different animal. I’m a former heavyweight champion. I’m probably the hardest pound-for-pound puncher on the planet. He’d get destroyed really easy, real quick. The noise out there is people want to see it. I want to see what the consensus is for the remainder of the country. If people in world boxing fans to see it…unlike me and Shannon Briggs. Me and Shannon Briggs isn’t pay-per-view. I talked to Eddie Hearn and Adam Smith, and they both said it’s pay-per-view between myself and Bellew. I’d say that’s closer to happening than Shannon Briggs currently. If I’m going to knock him out, I’m going to knock him out in the ring and get paid for it. I really think it’s a walk in the park. I’m confident I’d knock him out with a jab. I’d go out of my way to KO him with a jab. I’m that confident. It’s an easy night’s work. At cruiserweight, he’s one of the best cruiserweights in the world. But t heavyweight, it’s different story. A whole different set of skill sets are required. It’s a different type of toughness. A different type of power, and I don’t believe he has those. We’re not that different in size. Mike Tyson was actually smaller than him, you know. It’s the same with me. We’re made of different stuff. I’m so much more faster than he is. I punch so much more harder. My punch variety is better. So he just loses. I think he might have bit off more than he can chew picking a fight with me. It’s a bad mistake for him.”
