YESTERDAY it emerged that David Haye had torn his biceps, needed surgery and would not be able to fight Tony Bellew on December 17.
The word from Tony Bellew’s training camp is that the Liverpudlian is fit, strong and in tremendous shape, and therefore all the more disappointed that this fight has been postponed.
It would have been a major pay-per-view event in the UK. When Anthony Joshua lost challenger Kubrat Pulev at short notice, promoter Matchroom had a replacement, Carlos Takam, on stand by to come in.
There is no immediate simple solution for Bellew to replace Haye with another big fight to fulfil that now abandoned date. Tony’s team though would consider a dream world title shot at WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker.
But the New Zealander is not going to oblige them.
Parker’s team told Boxing News, “With the greatest amount of respect to Tony Bellew, we have zero interest in stepping in at short notice and replacing the injured David Haye on December 17. That’s despite our team having 100 percent belief it would be an easy payday and easy win for Joseph Parker. Bellew is not ranked in the top 15 of the WBO and needs reminding he is ineligible for a title shot anyway.”
Parker’s team are in the midst of negotiating a potential heavyweight unification clash with IBF and WBA champion Anthony Joshua.