By The Commissioner: So Thursday just gone I wrote a piece on the upcoming Haye v Bellew match up, giving my thoughts, analysis and opinion. Before we go any further, I would like to pat myself on the back for bucking the trend and warning of the dangers of writing off Tony Bellew.
I can’t gloat too much though, I did think Haye would eventually prove too much for ‘The Bomber’ Bellew to handle although I did state that the fight would be decided by whether or not Bellew could take David Haye into the later rounds. This he did. And in my opinion he did it very well.
I have read comments suggesting that Bellew only won the fight because ‘The Hayemaker’ succumbed to injury; vitriol that has been spouted by those that said Tony Bellew would be blasted out within 3 rounds and those very same people are discrediting the Liverpudlian by refusing to give him credit for doing EXACTLY what he said he would do.
From the very start of the ‘feud’ between these two men, Bellew has always said that he doesn’t believe that Haye has enough left to go a full 12 rounds with a top fighter. He said time and time again that his opponent’s body won’t cope with the demands that he would place upon him. He even said that he would be no match for the David Haye of old but that he wasn’t fighting the David Haye of old, he was fighting an old David Haye.
When the first bell rang, Tony Bellew looked the sharper of the two. He was staying on the back foot and responding to wild lunges by Haye with crisp counters. I had the first two rounds going to the younger, lighter man purely for his impressive, accurate punching. Haye looked like he expected to just throw power shots and they would home in on the chin if the Cruiserweight champion, you know, because everyone knows Cruiserweights can’t move their head.
From rounds 2 to 6 we saw a bit of a lull in the action. It was clearly Bellew’s game plan from the off to maintain his distance and keep his guard high; to let David try and throw bombs but make him miss and tire him out. For Haye, he just seemed clumsy and did not have the speed and elusiveness we usually associate with him.
Then came the 6th and the chaotic scenes following Hayes injury. We all know what happened after that.
Now there are a few points I would like to address;
1. To those that say Bellew would have lost had Haye not become injured.
How do you know? Haye had a full 6 rounds to do the ‘demolition job’ that he promised in 3 and he didn’t even get close to getting Bellew out of there. Until the injury everything was going as Bellew had planned. The Cruiserweight had already proved everyone wrong by this point so who’s to say he wouldn’t have went on to see through his game plan?
2. Bellew struggled to get a 1 legged Haye out of there.
Tony Bellew didn’t know the extent of David Hayes injury. Sure, by the 8-9th he probably realized that he wasn’t playing possum but he wouldn’t have known that ‘The Hayemaker’ couldn’t put any weight on his back leg which would prevent him from landing a ‘Hayemaker’. He’s in with arguably the most powerful puncher in the heavyweight roster, why get caught with a lucky shot if you know you’re on your way to picking up the W? He did get him out of there but he was cautious, I’d say that was smart.
3. Haye went into the fight injured
This is a pretty stupid thing to suggest. Sure he may have felt something in the lead up to the fight that put the frighters on him but you can’t go into a boxing match with a torn Achilles or damaged knee ligaments. For a start he wouldn’t actually have been able to get to the ring without assistance. Aside from that, you can actually see the moment when it goes so unless David Haye had planned to pull the wool over the worlds eyes with the most ridiculous hoax we’ve ever seen inside a ring then I’d be inclined to believe he was fit when the first bell rang.
4. What is Tony Bellew doing talking about Wilder/Parker?
As a boxing fan I want to see Bellew go back to his normal weight class and unify the division. However, as a fan I am going to work in the morning and that pays my bills. For Bellew, he can make more cash staying in boxing’s prize division. You can’t blame him for going for it when he probably doesn’t have that many years left in the sport and if I am honest I would give him a shout against Wilder, Tony can box and as long as he doesn’t get caught with a big shot he will outbox the American. From everything I have seen from Deontay, when you take away his power, he struggles.
In summary, Tony Bellew deserves credit, he did what he set out to do.
And whether or not you like David Haye, it was sad to see a boxer go out like that. As Floyd Mayweather would say, ‘sometimes your mouth writes cheques that your ass can’t cash’.