Anthony Bellew v David Deron Haye - 17th December

It was legitimate because you have to go the distance without getting injured. That's part of the deal. That's the same in every sport.
You can't have unfit people claiming they didn't really lose contests ... "it's just that I got injured !". ... yeah, .... and ?
That means you weren't fit to win the damn thing !
The other guy was fit to outlast you, therefore a legitimate win.
It's simple.

I don't think Haye has even argued otherwise.

Also, it wasn't completely unexpected. No one can say it was some "fluke". Haye's known to be chronically injury-prone and Bellew clearly took the fight knowing or believing that would help him in his task.

 

PPV which its going to sold as is of course a joke, haye and bellew do draw their fans and will be a big event. It needs some very good undercards for it.

Provided both don't have any injury during the fight, haye will KO bellew and gets his revenge. I was quite convince haye would of KO bellew had he not got injured. Bring it on! This will settle the score either way.

 

The build up is going to be a joke too.

I like the way they went back to trash-talking and bad-mouthing each other maybe a month or two after the first fight, well aware that they'd need to pretend to hate each other again because that WWE style nonsense is what the mass fringe of the fan-base needs to push them into another PPV.

They might have to throw some punches, maybe a glass bottle or a chair or table in the next presser to show us all "the beef is real, yo" ......

 

Rather close to Christmas and that Sunday night is pencilled in for a WWE PPV so things might not turn out as planned.

 

For such a good boxing year,given this will be the last ppv of 2017,i think it will leave a sour taste, its not 2 world class heavyweights both are essentially pumped up cruiserweights.No belt on the line,just a uk version of mayweather v mcgregor.AJ v Wk was a proper heavyweight fight,such a shame a brilliant year of boxing will be left on a sour note.

 

These same Haye fans were saying before the fight there would be no excuses. Bellew predicted that Haye's body would break down in the later rounds and that's exactly what happened.

 

I just can't see Hayes body holding up.. The only chance he has is to get back down in weight but he seems to think the extra bulk on his small frame is good..

He will break down again...

 

I didn't mean it should be struck off - of course it's an 'official' win and should stay as much - what I meant is that a lot people seem to forget the fact that Haye was basically crippled for half of the fight. In my eyes it's not a 'legitimate' win (we can argue about semantics all day). If I was Bellew I wouldn't celebrate the win. Anyone can stop a man who can't walk or throw a punch. If Haye doesn't get injured in the rematch and Bellew beats him then that would be 'legitimate' in my eyes.

 

tbe first fight was so weird that you can't really begrudge people wanting to see a follow up. Bellew claiming the victory isn't a problem, it's the way he ignores why he won which makes him look ridiculous. At first he tried to claim he didn't know haye's leg went. Now he acknoleges it cause he has to otherwise he looks like a complete tool. I credit tony for lasting the first rounds but his post fight talk was ridiculous. I don't expect much in the rematch, haye is just going for the pay day and probably knows his body is gone.

 

Why do you care so much if it does sell?

 

Big fat sighhhhhhhhhhhh

 

Not just that, but Haye has to make sure his body can do what he wants it to do. He's f*cked otherwise.

 

I think these things have a knock-on effect. We want to see quality boxing. The best fighting the best, competitive skilful fights etc.

What we don't want is our best boxers simply looking two or three weight divisions up or down from them for a 'joke' fight just because it has a chance to make them more money. This shouldn't even be considered a feasible option, yet we have BJS doing the same thing. Him, and a lot of other boxers, have no doubt looked at Tony Bellew and thought 'I'm better than him, why aren't I making the same money'. And the idea is reinforced that they don't need to look for the best quality boxing match-ups, just a joke fight that can be manufactured.

Maybe if fights like Bellew vs Haye flop like they deserve to, then BJS would be more inclined to fight a real MW rather than Amir ****ing Khan.

 

Agreed.

Tony is in a LOADED division, yet he won't fight anyone there. He could have some great scraps there.

Same with BJS.

But for some reason these guys won't give up their title, but are wiling to fight in other divisions!

There needs to be much force applied to facing a mandatory. Do it within 6 months or face being stripped. Boxing would be a much healthier sport if that happened, and we'd actually get the fights we want to see.

 

Absolutely. Makes it even more farcical when the cruiser super series is going on. It would be great for the division and do wonders for Bellew's credibility if he signed up for it.