By Scott Gilfoid: David Haye (28-3, 26 KOs) vows to return to the ring in 2017 to resume his career, and he believes he’ll once against win a world heavyweight title before he’s done. Haye, 36, was stopped in the 11th round earlier this month by Tony Bellew in London, England. Haye hurt his right Achilles in the 6th round, and he was nearly helpless for the remainder of the fight. Even when Haye was stopped in the 11th, it was more of a situation where his legs couldn’t support him than him being hurt in the classical sense.
Haye isn’t giving a timeline for when he’ll win another world title. All he’s saying is he’ll win the title. He’s had surgery to repair his torn Achilles, and its going to be a long road back before he can compete again. Haye might be a little too ambitious in aiming to get back into the ring in 2017, because it might prove more difficult than he thinks it will.
It took Haye 3 years to come back to the ring after he injured his right shoulder in 2013. Hopefully for Haye’s sake it doesn’t take him 3 years to come back from his Achilles injury.
“The question marks were about ‘does David still want it, if the going gets tough?’ Yes, I still want it, I think I proved to everybody I did, and I am telling you all I will be the heavyweight champion of the world once again,” said Haye via his Instagram. “Time will tell but I am doing everything humanly possible to get back on track, so watch this space.”
If Haye returns to the ring too soon, he could potentially suffer a setback with another injury to his ankle. That’s why it might be best for Haye to go into shutdown for the remainder of 2017 and use that time in SLOWLY putting his right ankle threw rehabilitation to strengthen it and make sure that the flexibility is there before he returns to action. I’ve read where they say 9 months is the amount of time for it to take an athlete to come back from a torn Achilles, but it’s different for everyone I’m sure. Haye being 36, he’s not exactly a spring chicken. He’s not young.
It’s obviously not good to lose almost an entire year of your boxing career sitting out of the ring, but the least thing that Haye needs is for him to come back too soon.
The good news for Haye is that Bellew could be out of the ring for 5-6 months with his hand injury, which might need surgery. If the two of them come back around the same time to the ring, then there’s a small chance that Haye could get his rematch that he wants against Bellew. Frankly, I doubt that Bellew is going to give Haye a rematch in his next fight. I see Bellew looking to get a big payday against Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury or Joseph Parker in his next fight. It seems like everyone wants a piece of Bellew. Even Dillian Whyte fancies that fight.
You can see why. Bellew looks like an easy mark. I mean, Haye was getting the better of Bellew by throwing his jab and not even needing to hit him with power shots. Haye’s jab was enough. It’s too bad Haye suffered the Achilles injury, because he probably would have won the fight with flying colors unless we saw a controversial decision.
Losing to Bellew is a major blow to Haye’s world title aspirations. If Haye had won the fight, it would have likely pushed him higher in the heavyweight rankings, even though Bellew is technically a cruiserweight. It still likely would have pushed Haye up the rankings further. But in losing to Bellew, it’s going to push Haye down in the rankings and make it more difficult for him to get a crack at a world title.
There would still be a possibility of Haye getting a title shot with one of the champions selecting him in a voluntary defense. I don’t see that happening though unless Deontay Wilder gives Haye a shot. Anthony Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn have shown no interest in fighting Haye, and I can’t see that changing in the future.
Haye showed courage in fighting with his torn Achilles from round 6 until 11. If you put the shoe on the other foot and had Bellew suffer the same injury, I don’t think he would have made it out of the 6th round. Bellew’s mobility was the only thing that saved him in the fight. Sadly, Haye was still the better offensive fighter even after he tore his Achilles. Bellew won rounds based on his ability to hit and scurry away. He wasn’t standing in the pocket and fighting Haye.
Bellew is no hurry to give Haye a rematch. If there is going to be a rematch, Haye is likely going to need to wait until the second half of 2018 at the earliest. I wouldn’t be surprised if Haye has to wait until 2019 before he gets a second shot at Bellew.
“I will be back to my very best very soon,” said Haye. “I have got the best people in the world looking after me so, as soon as it is humanly possible for me to get back in the ring, I will be. We all believe that will be before the end of 2017, which is fantastic, and everyone saw how much I wanted the fight while I was in the fight.”