Tony Bellew produced one of the performances of his life at Goodison Park on Merseyside. The Liverpudlian survived a first-round knockdown before producing some of the best boxing of his career, sending Ilunga Makabu hurtling to the floor in the third round. Bellew further enhanced his reputation with the victory, picking up the WBC Cruiserweight world title.
It was only a few days into his rein before David Haye said he will ‘smash’ Bellew. Both fighters have been talking up their chances over the past couple of days. Haye put a video on social media, which first congratulated Bellew on his victory, but then said ‘after knocking out Shannon Briggs’ that he could join him on the list.
The video was in response to Bellew calling out Haye in a post-fight interview. Comments had been made about the fighters that Haye was facing, with Bellew calling them ‘freaks’ and even saying that Haye was “conning the British public.” The possibility of the fight has raised questions marks over whether or not it would be contested at Catchweight. Haye has not made the 200lbs Cruiserweight since 2008. Bellew, however, has said that he will make any necessary weight changes.
The possibility of a fight with Haye would be tremendous for both parties. Apart from Anthony Joshua fighting Haye, it would arguably be the biggest fight domestically. Amir Khan against Kell Brook would be another big one, but they are not as big a names as Bellew or Haye.
‘If he wants to get down and train properly he could do Cruiserweight, but he’s happy living the lifestyle he lives and parading around and if that’s the way he wants to do it, we can do it at heavyweight.’ Said Bellew. The Scouse commented even further on the difference in weight class saying that Haye was a ‘small’ heavy weight and the change in classes wouldn’t be that difficult.
There has been a lot of emphasis put on a sparring match between the two, where apparently it was the man from Liverpool who came out on top. He states that he gave Haye ‘hell.’ There will no doubt be comments from Adam Booth who was Haye’s trainer at the time.
After the fight at Goodison, Bellew’s trainer believes that a possible fight with Haye would be even bigger than the world championship. Dave Caldwell who trains Bellew stated that not even the O2 would be a big enough venue.
So who would actually win? There is no doubting that it would be a fantastic match and would big Haye’s first major challenge since returning from retirement. However, until we see the Hayemaker in some bigger fights it’s a hard one to call. Haye was a tremendous fighter and we all know how good he can be. The only problem is that since his return his opposition has been of a relatively low quality.
It is surely only a matter of time before Bellew fights Haye. With Londoner Haye still fighting to get on his feet, he might well go into this one as the underdog. Something he isn’t used to. Either way it should be a terrific fight.
