Haye hopes he doesn’t get injured before Bellew rematch

By Boxing News - 02/01/2018 - Comments

Image: Haye hopes he doesn’t get injured before Bellew rematch

By Tim Royner: David Haye (28-3, 26 KOs) is counting on his body holding together without suffering yet another injury for his May 5th rematch against Tony Bellew (29-2-1, 19 KOs) at the O2 Arena in London, England.

Haye, 37, suffered a recent biceps injury while training for the rematch, which led to the fight being postponed until May 5th. Before that, Haye suffered an Achilles injury during his fight with Bellew on March 4th last year. It’s becoming clear that Haye’s body is brittle and he can’t be counted on to make it through training camp and fights without falling apart.

Haye can still punch, but he’s lost a lot of his hand speed and his timing looks completely gone at this point in his career. If Haye can land some his shots on the button, he’ll KO Bellew for sure on May 5th, but that’s not easy for him because he’s lost his timing and accuracy. If this fight had taken place in 2012, Bellew would be easy work for Haye. Back then, Haye was a handful for most heavyweights in the division apart from Wladimir Klitschko. Bellew was still a light heavyweight at that time, and there was no thought of him facing Haye.

“When the bell rings, you’ll see the best of me. People are worried about my body falling apart but hopefully that’s a thing of the past and you’ll see a very healthy athlete on May 5,” Haye said.

Haye would have been better off moving on and facing true heavyweight for his next fight than Bellew. Haye needs to be facing heavyweights that will be more stationary or coming forward. Bellew was hitting and running, and it made it difficult for Haye to land his shots last March. There’s a lot of money for Haye fighting Bellew again. That’s the thing. If not for that, Haye would be better off going after one of the top contenders like Dillian Whyte, Alexander Povetkin, Dominic Breazeale or Kubrat Pulev.

“I was a huge favorite the first time around, he said my body will break down, he will take over and stop me and that’s exactly what he did. However, I know I still have a lot more to give,” Haye said.

There’s still a long time before Haye and Bellew face each other on May 5. It’s got to be difficult for Bellew to invest so much time in waiting for Haye to heal up each from his various injuries. After their fight last March, Bellew had to wait for Haye’s surgically repaired Achilles to heal and be rehabilitated for him to schedule a rematch with him. That took a long time. After that injury finally healed, Haye is hurt again but this time with a biceps tear.

Bellew could have fought at least 2 times during the year that he’s been waiting on the Haye rematch. Bellew should have moved on as well and fought someone else. It’s sad to see Bellew losing the last part of his career waiting on a rematch against a fighter that has been increasingly more fragile with each passing year. Bellew could have accomplished so much more with his career in the last year. Bellew wants to face WBC/WBO cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. As rusty as Bellew will be after waiting on Haye to heal up, it’s unlikely that he’s stand much chance against Usyk.