Give Bellew credit

Yep. Bellew did exactly what he said he'd do.
Haye did exactly what Bellew said he would do too, except .... and all credit to Haye here .... he didn't QUIT when his body broke down.

Haye's shown nothing even remotely world class since 2012 and his history of injury is well-known. It's strange how his fans bury their heads in the sand all the way up to the point where he loses to a man almost everyone thought he'd destroy.
It's a shame people can't just admit they were wrong.
Haye's finished. Haye was finished as a contender years BEFORE the fight, as many people having been saying all along.
Haye was never good enough to beat top guys like Wladimir and Fury anyway, but I guess people can live in that fantasy that he was, if they like.

 

This will be my final post on this subject because I feel like I am going around in circles.

There is a massive difference between gassing and losing heart in the later rounds, which is what Bellew was banking on... and rupturing your achilles.

Bellew was the one who actually gassed, which is why he couldn't hurt a guy on one leg for 5 rounds.

You're speaking as though Bellew game planned for Haye rupturing his achilles. The commentators before the injury were actually surprised that Bellew looked like the one who was starting to breath heavily, and Haye was building into the fight, mentioning the extra fat he wasn't accustomed to... Bellew even made a comment post fight he was surprised that Haye wasn't seemingly tiring.

Its very easy in hindsight to say.. this was Bellew game plan all along, to not get knocked out early and then take over when Haye snapped his achilles, but I don't think that was the case.

 

It looked like Bellew was sitting back and giving Haye the opportunity to quit, which is what Bellew had predicted. But that didn't happen. Bellew was tired too though, that is true.

It's kind of irrelevant whether David Haye gassed, ruptured his achilles, dislocated his shoulder, twisted is knee, broke his toe, broke his hand ...... before the fight or during the fight ..... none of this matters really.
Haye's fans need to get it into their heads that this is what David Haye is now, this will always be the case. He can't get through a training camp injury-free, he can't even defeat Tony Bellew, he's unlikely to be able to go 6 rounds with anyone good without something bad happening to him.
This has been the deal for years now, this wasn't some flukey one-off thing.

 

he was gassing because of Hayes injury. he saw he had him hurt and threw everything he had through round 6-8, then took his foot off the gas when he realised there wasn't much left. he was saying Haye was prime and uninjured because thats what Haye was saying. i lost track how many times Haye said "its the best David Haye theres ever been, its Hayemaker 2.0 baby" and all that rubbish. How can you give Bellew "zero respect" after beating a man who everyone said would bash him up in 3 rounds AND he did it with a broken hand and dodgy knee....he deserves all the respect people can give

 

I do give Bellew credit, but there should be a rematch to prove the loss was not a fluke, could have been because of the injury, so why not? Biggest money fight of Bellew at this time.............question is how long will it take for Haye to heal?

 

I think he didn't quit because he has weetabix that morning...

I have to agree with the previous poster, I don't for one minute think bellew was relying on haye either quitting or getting a fight ending injury. The quitting thing was linked to him relying on haye a gassing. Both fighters were of similar freshness pre injury imo.

Bellew won so it's all irrelevant but come on

 

I give Tony a lot of credit for this fight, he surprised nearly everyone, looked in pain at times but showed incredible heart against a bigger more powerful man. when you just look at the fight without the stuff concerning Haye, he did what he had to and won. I think the negativity is coming because he is handling the win pretty badly with the spiteful talk towards Haye and his team, some of his interviews after the fight are bizarre. If he didnt do that stuff I'd be a big fan right now but he has put me off a bit.

 

I was very skeptical about the whole injury thing to be honest. Last night someone posted Haye's Achilles during surgery alongside a healthy looking one...fair to say I changed my mind on that one.

All the same, he still looked awful before that. He might have ended up getting the win but did nothing to show himself as any kind of contender

 

I agree it's unfair to Bellew when people have a go at him for not taking a one legged man out quicker but unfortunately it is an argument, personally I think an unfair one. the fact is Bellew was not a natural heavy, was gassed and didn't have the power to really finish Haye, he did what he had to and controlled an injured opponent. Plus he had his own hinderence not being used to the weight. But his reaction to that criticism is to pretend the injury didn't change the fight, when it clearly did.

At the end of the day he physically outlasted Haye and won fairly but you can't blame people for taking the injury into account. If this was any other fight a rematch would happen ASAP to conclude who really is better, but it seems a lot of Bellew fans just want everyone to say Tony was the better fighter full stop, when the fight didn't really prove that. But it did prove Bellew is one tough fighter and took Haye late in the fight showing amazing will.

He deserves a lot more respect for surprising everyone but the silly talk doesn't help. That first round I was rooting for him, as he punched the muscle bound Haye off balance, no intimidation. Although there are questions He won fairly and even Haye seems to acknowledge that, publicly anyway.

 

Tony Bellew showing his bitter bluenose credentials.

He was on his way to a 'moral victory' as it didn't look like Haye was gonna stop him but because of what happened he gets a real victory with an * attached and he doesn't like it.

Deep down he knows why he won the fight but let him continue to act as though it made no difference.

 

Yeah it will be interesting to see if Haye can adjust, its a big ask thats for sure, especially if he is doing it at heavyweight. His explosive style seems suited to a younger man, so it will prove a lot of people wrong if he is able to come back effectively.
As the fight went on I thought Haye looked a bit better so their might be hope. It would be good to see them fight again. I feel like we could have been robbed of a classic this time, when you look at it Bellew was hanging in there with Haye, I feel that if they were both fit those later rounds could have had some epic exchanges. It would still have been a hard fight for Haye even if he wasnt injured.

 

I got massive respect for Tony Bellew, but he has to stop saying it was his skill which beat Haye. He done what he had to do, but the reality is he beat a one legged opponent, he can't be bragging about winning in that fashion.