“I don’t believe there’s anybody on the planet who can beat me. I can’t fathom that possibility,” David Haye declares. And in the former heavyweight champion’s estimation, Tony Bellew, his March 4, opponent is scarcely a threat.
“People have short memories. You’re only as good as your last fight. My last fight was a two round knockout in a packed O2 arena but it was against a guy no one had ever heard of so a lot of people judge your whole life on that last fight. My next fight will be against Tony Bellew who I’ll knock out in a couple of rounds and I’ll be judged on that – ‘Oh, he was only a cruiserweight, it doesn’t really mean anything,’” Haye said. “I don’t think it’s a test. I think it’s a fun fight. It’s a fun fight for the fans. That’s what it is. A fight doesn’t have to be a test to be a fun fight. If I have my worst night at the office, and he has his best night at the office, I’ll still knock him out. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to prepare.”
“He’s tough, he’s strong. I’ve fought a lot of tough strong guys in the past,” Haye continued. “A lot of people have a game plan against me, to rough me up and get me into the second part of the fight. It’s like me saying, ‘A good strategy to beat Usain Bolt – as long as I’m in front of him for the first 80 metres, I can just coast the 20 and beat him.’ But you’ve got to get there. How are you doing to do that? He’s talking about getting me to the later part of the fight, how’s he going to do that? What, is he going to transplant Marvin Hagler’s head on to his? I can’t see how his skull can take the power that I produce. Physically I don’t know how it’s going to happen. I’m hoping he can do something. I really hope he comes in bigger and stronger than ever. He needs to – to get out of that first round.”
