By Scott Gilfoid: Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder is picking David Haye to come out on top and defeat Tony Bellew in their rematch on December 17 at the O2 Arena in London, England. Deontay gives Haye (28-3, 26 KOs) an excellent chance of defeating Bellew (29-2-1, 19 KOs,) as long as he doesn’t get injured again.
Haye tore his Achilles in his March 4 fight against Bellew, 34, at the O2 Arena. Wilder saw the fight, and he had Haye winning until he suffered the leg injury in round 6. After that, Haye could barely walk, much less fight. Bellew took over the contest and had a big 6th round, and he then finished the contest in the 11th. Haye slipped out of the ring while being pressured against the ropes by Bellew.
Wilder sees Haye beating Bellew to set up a third fight between them. The two British fighters make good money fighting each other. Heck, they don’t even need to fight anyone else. If they could face each other 4 times in a row, they’ll both retire rich men. Of course, the winner of the Bellew vs. Haye fight will have a good chance of facing IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua at some point. That’ll be a big money fight as well.
“The more I think about it, David winning and setting up the trilogy? I like that!” said Deontay to skysports.com. “I think David would’ve won the first one if he didn’t injure his Achilles because he was a handful, but then could hardly walk. Hopefully he doesn’t have any injuries in this one because I had him winning in the first one and he can win the second one,” said Wilder.
What are the odds that Haye suffers another Achilles or shoulder injury? I can’t even foresee such a thing happening to Haye. Haye lost 3 ½ years of his career after suffering a terrible right shoulder injury while training in 2012 after his knockout win over Dereck Chisora. Haye was told that his career was over because of the severity of his shoulder injury.
Fortunately for Haye, the doctors turned out to be wrong, and he was able to return to the ring in 2016 in beating Mark de Mori by a 1st round knockout on January 16, 2016. Haye followed that victory with a 2nd round stoppage win over Arnold Gjergjai on May 21 last year.
Haye’s winning streak came to an end when he was stopped in the 11th round by Bellew on March 4. Before the injury occurred, Haye was winning the fight by jabbing Bellew. Haye looked rusty though, as he was incapable of connecting with his right hand and left hooks. Bellew was fighting defensively, making Haye miss badly whenever he would attempt to land one of his big shots.
Bellew was able to land some nice pot shots in rounds 1-5. However, Haye figured out quickly that Bellew couldn’t stop his jabs, so he kept hitting him with them until he suffered the Achilles injury in the 6th. There’s no question that if Haye hadn’t gotten hurt, he would have won the fight. He would have jabbed his way to a win over Bellew. Haye probably should have made his job much easier by attacking Bellew all out the way he needed to in order to knock him out, but he didn’t want to get hit with something silly while rushing forward. I still Haye would have gotten to Bellew sooner or later and knocked him out if he’d kept jabbing him all night.
“Bellew was OK, but nothing special [against Haye],” said Wilder. “He should stay at cruiserweight. At the end of the day they are both cruiserweights.”
Bellew only fought well in rounds 6 and 11, and that was because Haye was hurt and fighting on just one healthy leg while dragging around the other one. Bellew did nothing in rounds 7 through 10. He wasn’t willing to attack Haye hard enough for him to get the KO. Haye landed some good shots in those rounds despite not being capable of planting his weight on his back foot.
If Bellew beats Haye a second time, that would be bad news for their hopes of a trilogy. The boxing public isn’t going to want to pay to see Haye-Bellew to do it again in a third fight if Bellew wins both of the first 2 fights. Haye has got to win the second fight for there to be a chance for a rubber match between them. I think there’s a very good chance Haye beats Bellew to setup a big money third fight. Hopefully there’s no controversy in their rematch on December 17. I’s always bad to have a controversial decision muddy the waters.
Here’s how the Bellew vs. Haye 2 fight stacks up:
• Power – This is an easy pick for Haye. He hits a lot harder than Bellew. If Haye can land his power shots in the rematch, it’s going to be a short night for Bellew. Haye will need to find a way for him to deliver his bombs without having to chase Bellew and hold him down with one hand and nail him with his other so he doesn’t slip away
• Speed – Haye is the faster of the two by a long shot. Bellew has some hand speed, but he’s mostly just a slow plodder. Bellew likes to throw the old 1-2 combination. He’s utterly predictable
• Chin – This is another area for Haye. He can take a good shot. Bellew was reduced to a pile of rubble in his 6th round knockout loss to Adonis Stevenson in 2013. Stevenson doesn’t hit as hard as Haye, but he didn’t suffer an injury like he did against Bellew
• Size/reach/weight – This is another category that goes to Haye. He’s bigger than Bellew with a longer reach
• Jab – Haye has the better jab, as we saw in the first fight between them. Bellew tends to push his jab
• Boxing IQ – Both guys are wily inside the ring. Bellew came into the Haye fight with a great game plan last time. I don’t think Haye adapted well before his injury. Haye stopped trying to nail Bellew with power shots, so you can call that adapting. Haye used his jab exclusively from round 3 until his injury in the 6th
Wilder is well familiar with what Haye can do, as he’s worked for him in the past as a sparring partner. There were clips of the Haye-Wilder sparring session, and it looked like a war. Both guys were unloading with tremendous shots. Wilder was firing monstrous right hands that were landing to the head of Haye, and he took them well. Haye did a decent job of making Wilder miss with some of his big power shots, but mostly he was taking the shots. It would have been fun to see the two of them face each other in a real fight. If Haye gets past Bellew, it would be an excellent idea for him and Wilder to face each other before the big money Wilder-Joshua fight in 2018.
Wilder is still in need of an opponent for his November 4 card at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Wilder’s opponent Luis Ortiz was tested positive for 2 banned substances in the pre-fight VADA test. Ortiz’s fate is still in limbo. Wilder could wind up facing Bermane Stiverne on the November 4 card unless the World Boxing Council lets him still fight Ortiz, which is highly doubtful?