Recently rumours started going around that David Haye was having issues with his Achilles again and that the fight against Tony Bellew on December 17th was at risk.
‘The Hayemaker’ initially suffered the injury during the fight against Bellew back in March and cost him the win because he couldn’t utilise any efficient movement for the rest of the fight.
The rematch is set to end the great year of boxing that was 2017 and pulling out at this stage would cause a massive backlash. Promoter Eddie Hearn didn’t waste any time and confirmed publically that the injury rumour was false and Haye is not stepping aside.
“I know he [Haye] was training yesterday morning with a corporate day for Park Plaza, training fine. So I was a bit taken aback by it. So I spoke to the team and they said absolutely no problem. Sky then spoke to David Haye and said – oh we’ve seen this and he said – absolutely not true. I’m 100 per cent ready to go December 17th. It’s on,” told Hearn in an interview with IFL.tv
The promoter then discussed the possibility of this being just mind games played by Haye in order to cause confusion within Bellew’s camp.
According to Bellew, it is exactly just that.
“You never know with Haye. He likes to play games. Does he leak that to make Tony Bellew think that he might be out of the fight so that affects his preparation?” pondered Hearn.
Bellew is certain Haye was setting a trap. ‘The Bomber’ has stayed away from social media and did not follow the injury story at all since he was sure it wasn’t true in the first place.
“I don’t pay David Haye no attention. I know why he’s done it. He’s done it to have a little go at me. He’s trying to bait me to react and I’m just past caring really,” said Bellew to Sky Sports.
The WBC Emeritus World cruiserweight champion believes Haye will be a lot lighter than usual and also expects the Londoner to be in prime condition come December 17th.
“Haye will be at his best and he’ll be at his lightest in about five years. He’ll be his lightest since I would say he’s moved up to heavyweight,” told Bellew.
After conquering the cruiserweights, my journey to becoming the heavyweight champion of the world began on this day in 2008 with a fifth round stoppage of top 10 ranked Monte Barrett pic.twitter.com/HbvkMcFgl2
— David Haye (@davidhaye) November 16, 2017
“I’m just going to go in there and do my job. I expect David to be fast, vicious, dangerous, but I will see that out, I will see through that period, and then I will take over in the fight,” he added.
In his opinion piece with the Metro, Bellew wrote that should Haye actually decide to pull out, he’s ready to fight WBO World heavyweight champion Joseph Parker instead.
“I can’t see why Haye would be lining up his excuses early, because he knows he is going to retire after this fight. He’s just playing some mind games, but he’s failed. I’ve got nothing to say on the matter – if he wants to pull out, then pull out. I’ve got a lot of options on the table, so if he wants to pull out of the fight, I’ll face Joseph Parker, no problem,” wrote Bellew.
The Parker match up has been discussed in the media and among fans since last summer. The WBO champion was a clear target for Bellew after his victory over Haye.
“I love the thought of becoming heavyweight champion of the world, so my preference will be Parker,” told Bellew back in June.
In his Metro column, Bellew also gave an update from his training camp, which at the moment seems to be a bit of a struggle since Bellew is having a cold.
“I’m training hard, I’ve just got over a cold. It happens in most of my camps, your immune system gets very low due to the amount of workload you’re putting on your body. It wouldn’t be a normal camp if I didn’t get sick! I’m sparring three times a week now and I’m ready to shock the world, again,” he summarised.
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