By Eric Thomas: David Haye (28-4, 26 KOs) lost to Tony Bellew (30-2-1, 20 Kos) by a 5th round knockout loss on Saturday night in a poor performance from start to finish by the Hayemaker at the O2 Arena in London, England.
Haye, 37, fought like a faded fighter throughout the fight in getting knocked down 3 times before the fight was stopped by referee Howard Foster at 2:14 of round 5. Bellew, 34, says he told Haye that he needs to retire after the fight. The message does not seem to have sunken in with Haye, as he’s not sure if he’ll retire or not. He believes that he could possibly have a better performance next time he fights.
Haye was fighting well in the first 2 rounds, but then he made the mistake of exchanging shots with Bellew in the 3rd. Haye got caught with a big shot and knocked down while along the ropes. Moments later, Bellew knocked Haye down for a second time with a fight to the head. In the 5th, Bellew knocked Haye down with a left hook to the head that put him down face first on the canvas. Haye was throwing a left hook of his own at the time that he was nailed. He never saw the shot coming.
“Tony did some clever stuff in there and I couldn’t get off,” Haye said after the fight. “I thought I was going into the fight, but I clearly wasn’t. I don’t know,” Haye said when asked if he’ll retire. ”I didn’t feel that good in there tonight. I have to review the tapes and see what I did wrong. Tony Bellew boxed a good fight and I didn’t. Maybe if I get back I’ll have a better performance.”
It’s possible that Haye might look better if he comes back against a different heavyweight that is slower, and doesn’t have the left hook that Bellew possesses. Haye needs to have his calf looked at to identify if there’s a new or preexisting problem there. It’s no use Haye fighting again if he’s not able to come back 100 percent from his Achilles injury, because tonight it looked like he was fighting on one leg like he did last time he fought Bellew after suffering the injury in the 6th.
”No, I’m fully healthy,” Haye said when asked if he had an injury to his previously injured right Achilles. Tony Bellew was the better fighter. He did what he needed to do to get the win. I’m taking nothing away from Tony Bellew,” Haye said.
After all the bad press Haye took when he blamed his loss to Wladimir Klitschko on a toe injury, he wasn’t able to reveal that he had another injury problem in the Bellew fight. We’ll probably not know whether Haye fought with an injury unless he has surgery on the problem. Haye was not about to admit that his leg was the partial cause for his loss tonight.
Haye’s biggest problem that led to him losing tonight was how he left himself open for Bellew’s left hooks. That’s how Haye was hurt initially in round three when he exchanged with Bellew along the ropes, and the same thing happened in round 5. Haye had no defense for Bellew’s left hook in the fight. The smart thing for Haye to have done would have been for him to abandon using his left hook and focused instead on just jabbing. Haye was winning the fight when he was jabbing Bellew in the first two rounds. Haye got greedy in the 3rd round and tried to land some power shots, and he paid for it.
“The first thing I said to Haye after the fight was ‘Stop now!’” Bellew said after the fight. “He’s outstayed his welcome in the game really. You’ve got all these young guns coming up now, he needs to retire.”
It’s true. Haye has overstayed his welcome in the sport. Bellew might find out the same thing once he starts fighting the healthy younger contenders. Bellew still hasn’t proven himself against any of the other heavyweights in the division like Dillian Whyte, Joe Joyce, Tyson Fury, Jarrell Miller and Alexander Povetkin. Those guys are healthy and they would be a problem for Bellew.