Tony Bellew – the quiet before the fight

Tony Bellew

TONY BELLEW flexes his fingers. A lump of tissue moves up and down beneath the skin along the back of his hand. The 35-year-old has had his share of wars and wounds. It takes a toll, a life fighting. But those hands have a few more battles left in them.

โ€œThereโ€™s the bone that moves there. You can see it,โ€ he says.

Something changes in him when that hand closes into fist. He is a father, a husband and, as we all saw at the weigh in today, an ordinary man. He is not a thick-muscled โ€˜power athleteโ€™. Now however his children are away, from home and a screen showing Sky Sports Box Office. He wonโ€™t speak to his wife until the fight with David Haye is done, win or lose at the O2. When his hands make a fist, heโ€™s something else too.

Thoughts of his family remain with him. โ€œThis,โ€ the interminable press conferences, the weigh in, the television cameras, the crowds, โ€œis just a circus,โ€ he says.

โ€œMy greatest achievement,โ€ Tony Bellew continued, โ€œis a home. I come from a single home. At 10 years old my dad was gone. At 12 years old my dadโ€™s in jail. So Iโ€™m a success, no matter what happens in my life, Iโ€™m a success. David could flatten me in 20 seconds. I donโ€™t give a s***.โ€

But he warned darkly, โ€œHeโ€™s not going to. Like I said before, when the gloves go on, I want to cause havoc. I want to cause mayhem. And when I say mayhem I mean the worst mayhem you can see. Something happens to me and I flick a switch and I just want to do damage. I swear when I get him on Saturday heโ€™s going to pay for every word. Iโ€™ll smash him. Iโ€™m not going to stop. Heโ€™s just finished. He has no idea whatโ€™s coming Saturday. The frightening part about it, I know what Iโ€™m capable of.โ€

Heโ€™s proven it to himself in this training camp. โ€œIโ€™ve been brilliant in sparring,โ€ Bellew said. โ€œWithout sounding big headed I could have rendered every single sparring partner unconscious if I chose to. Iโ€™ve been that sharp and that vicious.โ€

There is an edge of fear, or at least an awareness of the danger, when he thinks of the Haye fight. โ€œThe first thing that goes as you get slightly older is your speed and your timing and your awareness. Theyโ€™re the first things that leave. The last thing to leave is your power,โ€ Bellew said. โ€œThatโ€™s why he will always remain an elite level fighter. He is the singular biggest punching heavyweight in the world. [Deontay] Wilder just swings. The reason he does damage is just you donโ€™t see them coming.โ€

Haye seems imposing. At todayโ€™s weigh in the 37-year-old unveiled a body that appeared in magnificent condition. But Bellew is looking beyond that. โ€œThereโ€™s a difference between an athlete and a fighter, in my opinion,โ€ the Liverpudlian said. โ€œIโ€™m really a student when it comes to boxing and I understand how the body works. He will always be a great athlete [but] you canโ€™t defy age. Time waits for no man. Iโ€™m sure youโ€™re very much cleverer now than when you were 30 but physically you canโ€™t do what you could. Itโ€™s no different for him.โ€

tony bellew

Haye might have the greater power, the better track record. But Bellew does not care. โ€œI will not give this fella an opportunity. I will take him out and itโ€™s going to be horrible. Thatโ€™s the switch thatโ€™s going to get flipped and thatโ€™s not nice. I just wish this f****** anger and rage would go,โ€ he says.

โ€œBut it wonโ€™t.โ€

Share Page