Tony Bellew defies the odds to KO David Haye in Round 11
Underdog Tony Bellew produced the shock of the boxing calendar with an eleventh round TKO over David Haye at the O2, London.
Bellew, the WBC Cruiserweight champion moved up to heavyweight to face former World Champion David Haye. Although Haye controlled the first few rounds he was unable to trouble Bellew with his power-punches. Famed for his crisp, hard accurate punches Haye often missed the target and was occasionally made to pay by a largely defensive Bellew.
However the fight swung in the 6th Round when Haye appeared to injure his right ankle.
Bellew put The Hayemaker down in the sixth and Haye spent the reminder of the fight on the defensive barely able to stand upright let alone land any meaningful punches of his own. Eventually Haye succumb to an onslaught from Bellew in the eleventh round. The only surprise being that Haye somehow managed to navigate his way bravely through the last five rounds.
Bellew takes credit for calling for his shot against Haye and taking it
Bellew told anyone that would listen that the "Haymaker 2.0" was not the same fighter of yesterday. He was right. The old Haye was a sharp shooter, able to pick off his opponent with blurring hand speed and power. There was no sign of that tonight. The 2017 version of Haye, was lunging and out of range. And when he did connect, did not have the same devastating effect.
What next for Haye and Bellew
Who knows?
Both fighters spoke of a rematch post fight. However neither said it with any conviction. Bellew showed he has the courage to fight at any weight however it's questionable whether he has the power to make an impact among the Heavyweights. The problem for Bellew is that Heavyweight is where the money is and the Cruiserweight is full of high risk, little reward fights.
It's hard to see where Haye goes from here. Having been sidelined for so long with injuries and promising so much on his comeback, this defeat will be a bitter pill to swallow.
His heart will want to get this one back from Bellew. However he will need to do some soul searching and question whether his body is up to the rigours of heavyweight boxing. I certainly would not want to see him in the ring with young lions like Anthony Joshua.
I was sure I followed you long ago. You may have dropped off my list during the hard fork changeover, like 150 others did LOL
Anyways, have a nice day, following you now.
HAYEmaker --- that was well done, I saw what you did there. Well played LOL