British heavyweights David ‘Hayemaker’ Haye and Tony ‘The Bomber’ Bellew face off for their well anticipated rematch on May 5th at The 02 Arena after a shock ending to the first fight.
The first fight between the two controversial heavyweights consisted of back and forth trash talk in the build up. Haye entered the ring evidently angry and full of intent to let Bellew eat his words, based on the swinging tactics that the Bermondsey man adopted.
This caused him to miss a lot of shots and may have contributed in him rupturing his Achilles and eventually being stopped by a barrage of punches from Bellew in the eleventh round of what was a great fight.
Relaxed
This time however, Haye has claimed he will adopt a more relaxed approach. Talking to IFLTV he said:
“In the lead up to this fight, I really don’t have to sell the fight. The first time round, I really had to sell the fight.
“it was like ‘You’re fighting Tony Bellew, it will be interesting but you’re going to knock him out in one round.’ I was such a huge favourite that it wasn’t considered a competitive match.
“People were watching it for the grudge rather than the actual fight.”
Haye and a number of boxing experts believe the first fight would have reached an alternative conclusion had he not picked up the injury. Bellew is known for his ‘Let’s fight’ attitude and when Haye sparked the conversation of rematch Bellew agreed.
The Future
The futures of both fighters are in question after this fight. Thirty-seven year-old Haye has had a long list of injuries throughout his career and could be injury prone at this current time. in addition to this, links with a fight will Mixed Martial artist Jimi Manuwa in a boxing ring are likely to be revealed until after the Bellew rematch.
Bellew’s career is moving ever closer to Hollywood as he talks on retirement and films after starring in the films Creed and Creed 2 which is a spin off from the famous Rocky franchise.
Eddie Hearn, who will be promoting the show, saying “there was a lot going on in tony Bellew’s life, he is not just a fighter anymore”. Can Haye get redemption or is Bellew too much for the Haymaker? We will find out on May 5th