By Ian S Palmer
There’s a huge domestic rematch at the 02 Arena in London, England on Saturday, May 5th where Tony Bellew and David Haye will slug it out once again. Bellew won the first grudge match in March, 2017 via an 11th- round stoppage and was ahead 96-93 on all three scorecards. Haye suffered a torn Achilles tendon in the sixth round and then suffered an arm injury in training to push the rematch back from its originally scheduled date last December. In addition, Bellew broke a hand in the first fight. The rematch can be seen live in the UK on Sky Box Office. Bellew is a former World Cruiserweight Champion while Haye was once a Cruiserweight and Heavyweight Titleholder.
This is Haye’s fourth fight after a three-and-a-half-year absence and he’s now 37 years old. Haye decided to return to boxing to cash in on the sudden-popularity of British heavyweights such as Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. He won his first two comeback bouts by early knockouts against limited opposition and then ran into Bellew. He’s climbing into the ring with an impressive record of 28-3 along with 26 Kos. His first comeback fight in January, 2016 lasted saw him stop Mark De Mori in 131 seconds in London and he then stopped Gjergjaj halfway through the second round a few months later.
Haye’s other two career losses came against Wladimir Klitschko in a dull unanimous decision in 2011 and a fifth-round TKO to Carl Thompson back in 2004. With 26 Kos in 28 wins it’s obvious the London-born Haye has a lot of power in his fists and that’s certainly verified by his current knockout ratio of 84 percent. Even though he started out as a cruiserweight, Haye has decent size for a heavyweight as he stands 6-feet-3-inches tall with a reach of 78 inches and he’s boxed 133 rounds since turning pro back in 2002 following a fine amateur career.
Haye’s biggest wins have been against the likes of Jean Marc Mormeck, Monte Barrett, Enzo Maccarinelli, Nikolay Valuev, John Ruiz, Audley Harrison and Dereck Chisora. He fell short when he fought his one and only elite opponent in Klitschko, but blamed his mediocre performance on a foot injury. Haye prefers to stop his opponents, but has pretty good boxing skills if needed. On the downside, he isn’t that hard to find and hit in the ring. Haye’s chin isn’t bad even though he’s been stopped twice and rocked on several other occasions during his career.
The 35-year-old Bellew of Liverpool won the vacant WBC Cruiserweight crown with a third-round stoppage over Ilunga Makabu of the Congo in May, 2016 and then defended it against BJ Flores five months later. Bellew had previously lost a pair of title shots in the light heavyweight division as he was stopped by WBC Champion Adonis Stevenson in six rounds in 2013 and Nathan Cleverly beat him by majority decision for the WBO crown in 2011. He’s also a former European and British champion who enters the ring with a record of 29-2-1 with 19 Kos.
Bellew moved up to the cruiserweight division after Stevenson stopped him in November of 2013. He’s beaten the likes of Haye, Flores, Makabu, Mateusz Masternak, Arturs Kulikauskis, Valery Brudov, Ivica Bacurin and Julio Cesar Dos Santos. The draw on his record came back in 2013 against Isaac Chilemba in the light heavyweight division. He’s won decisions in rematches against Chilemba and Cleverly and also beat Edison Miranda by a ninth-round TKO in 2012.Bellew turned pro in 2007 and has 211 rounds under his belt.
He’s not an overly-powerful puncher and his current knockout ratio is 59 per cent. He also stands 6-feet-3-inches tall so is the same height as Haye, but his 74-inch reach means he has a four-inch disadvantage in wingspan. Bellew has good technical skills and likes to press the action, but his chin is also somewhat questionable after Stevenson stopped him a few years ago. Like Haye, Bellew enjoyed a successful amateur career and has captured several regional and minor titles as a pro including British, European and Commonwealth Crowns.
Prediction…
These two guys simply don’t like each other and are both will be looking for a knockout like they were in the first fight. There’s no doubt Haye’s injury played a part in his loss last year as he could barely stand at some points, but let’s not forget Bellew broke a hand too. Bellew seems to be the mentally tougher of the two and that could be the difference, but I think Haye will catch him this time and that will lead up to a rubber match in an eventual trilogy.
