SPEAKING in his own words Tony Bellew provides an insight into his training camp and why he will beat David Haye a second time:
“I’m only a few weeks away from proving people wrong yet again. It’s becoming quite a habit this. My first fight with David Haye was a fantastic win for me, and a victory that gave me so much satisfaction following everything I had to hear and put up with in the initial build up. People told me I couldn’t take his power and that I wouldn’t see round two but I know what I’m capable of and the audience will see that once again when I beat David Haye for the second time on December 17.
“I’m only weeks away from this massive event and my preparations for this fight, alongside my trainer, Dave Coldwell, have been excellent so far. The gap between the first fight and upcoming rematch has been quite big so it was great to get back into the gym and get back to work doing what I do best. The camp for the first fight was very intense as I had to get used to facing bigger men and getting my body adjusted to heavyweight was also quite challenging. There was no easy introduction to heavyweight for me because what would be the point? Haye was someone I’ve wanted for a long time and when the opportunity presented itself to fight him then it was the fight I wanted.
“Haye has made changes to his team ahead of this rematch, so I’m expecting the very best version of him. I think he’ll be a lot lighter and he’ll certainly have a lot more respect for me than the first fight as I know full well that he thought he was going to knock me out with the first shot he landed. My boxing brain is underrated because people are used to seeing me stop people but I’ll have all the answers for whatever Haye brings in December.
“I know David so well from studying him for so many years and when you combine that with what my coach knows about him then it puts us in a great position. Dave is a knowledgeable coach who never leaves any stone unturned and it’s the same again for this fight and we’re working on so many different things as we know that it’s a more hungry version of David Haye coming this time around because he has revenge on his mind as I didn’t just take his best shots back in March, I took them and gave him some of my own. They all told me that I couldn’t stand with the man and that his power would be my undoing, but I was still there standing strong after several heavy exchanges.
“This rematch is only happening because I’m allowing it to happen and it’s taking place on my terms and that’s because I stopped him last time out. This show is Tony Bellew v David Haye and I chose this fight so I can put aside any doubt over our first fight, and also because it’s a chance to end the career of a man who has disrespected so much over the last twelve months. Haye was someone who I looked up to massively when I was a younger fighter coming up but I’m at a level now where I’ve proved I’m the better man of the two. He can cling onto whatever excuse he wants from the first fight, but even without an injury, the winner was always going to be me. I shouted it as loud as I could to anyone who wished to listen and now I think people are starting to realise just how good a fighter I really am.
“This fight is so personal to me as it means everything and my legacy is reliant upon it. I’ve got into the ring and won British, Commonwealth, European and world honours and I’ve also been fortunate to fight on some of the grandest occasions and secure my family’s future in the process. I don’t know when my final fight will be but this type of occasion is what I thrive on now. It’s what I’ve given my entire adult life too and there’s no way that I can lose on December 17. There’s been so much talk of Joseph Parker for the WBO heavyweight title but this fight with Haye is something I have to take care of. So much has been said from the pair of us and it’s almost time to do it all over again. I’ve beaten him already and you’ll see a repeat performance when we square off again.”
Read on – The truth about David Haye’s injuries revealed HERE
