Nah, I can't see it lasting that long or Bellew being that competitive. He will get caught early and go into his shell trying to survive. Haye destroys Bellew, KD early and stopped on his feet.
Can't help but agree. Let's be honest, Bellew isn't the greatest defensive fighter. He took a few good shots from Flores but was confident he could cope. He can't rely on his chin (which to be fair is pretty impressive, the shot from Ovil that put him down was crazy but he got up and won), a big shot from a heavyweight will starch him. I see everyones point about what if it gets to 9 rounds? What if, what if. That won't be an issue as Tony leaves himself too open to reach the later rounds. A few people saying he has just been managed well but Mormeck in Paris was very impressive. Yes he's not the same guy as then but going 12 rounds with a Prime Klitschko makes this fight a walk in the park. The previous poster was right - this is a mismatch. That's no disrespect to Bellew, just reality.
Some good points in your post, but please don't suggest that Haye " WENT " 12 rounds with prime Wlad. Haye did what he's done for most of his career and that is hoodwink the paying public by trying to suggest he was going to decapitate Wlad, in reality what happened was Haye spent 12 rounds running for his life, barely threw a punch, and either choked Wlad or threw himself to the floor in order to avoid any suggestion of an onslaught. Talented and explosive Cruiser, but his Heavyweight career was and still is all bluff.
Haye knows he'll gas himself out if it goes deep, so he will come out firing and end it within 2 rounds.
Wouldn't it be hilarious if we had an overconfident Haye get Carl Thompsoned again. I have fond memories of that fight, as i do the Khan Prescott fight.
You just never know. He's essentially been retired for 5 years. I don't care how much you hammer the gym and how many sparring sessions you go through, it it not enough to keep you 'fight' fit. He's getting in the ring with a very confident, very hungry, cruiserweight champion. A bloke who loves fighting, loves being in the ring and is totally immersed in the sport. Haye has no love for the sport. He's not hungry for it. His ambitions lie outside the ring not in it. Despite what people say, he will not have that same devastating speed and timing he had 5 years ago. His opponent won't wait in the corner for him to knock him out. This fight is more balanced than people think. I'm not saying Bellew is gonna win, but I believe it's going to go the full 12.
So much tosh in most of your posts, but even by your standards this statement is bizarre: 'as usual Haye fights a ex light heavy' Yes those famous ex light heavies Haye is famed for normally fighting......Klitschko, Ruiz, Valuev, Chisora.... It makes me laugh, for years all we have had has been along the lines of ....'Hayes not a real heavy, just a pumped up cruiserweight'. Now he is actually going to fight a pumped up cruiser, a current world champ at that, in his next fight we keep getting.......'its an unfair joke fight, a cruiser against a heavy'.
It's a meaningless win for both fighters. I don't care if Bellew beats Haye. So what ? Haye's current heavyweight rating is a total fraud, and Bellew knows that. So even if Bellew can beat Haye he's no force at HW. More likely Haye wins, and that's an even bigger "so what?". It's a nowhere fight in the heavyweight division. The only reason this fight will attract viewers is because these two are a couple of idiots outside the ring. I guess many of the viewers hate both of them equally, so they can't lose really. They hope to get to see one of them suffer a humiliating loss at least.
You've got a legitimate heavyweight, against Bellew who not long ago was fighting at light heavy, has been knocked down at light heavy, stopped at light heavy, knocked down at Cruiserweight and nearly stopped at Cruiserweight (brudov). All against people who don't punch as hard or as fast/sharp as Haye. Bellew is probably the slowest and most innacurate cruiserweight champion, yet he's likely going to put on more weight, so he's likely to be even slower. I honesty don't think it'll go beyond 3-4 rounds, unless Bellew fights very cautiously and if he does then Haye isn't going to be exactly burning out the gas tank. If Bellew wasn't a cruiserweight champion, I don't even think people would even be contemplating him having a chance. His performances at Cruiserweight don't exactly inspire confidence imo. Yes I know he won the title by KO, but Makubu showed little experience when hurt.
The same logic would say you have a 'legitimate' heavyweight who's been TKO'd by a cruiserweight. You could argue that at light-heavyweight, Bellew was too drained. Since stepping up, although not the most stylistic fighter, he's unbeaten in his last 8 fights at cruiser.
Maybe he was too drained, it doesn't change the fact that he was still nearly stopped by Brudov and if I remember correctly, a phantom low blow was the reason he was able to get a breather. He was put down by Makubu and scraped past Masternek. His performance against Cleverley was not very good either. So yes he's won 8 on the trot, but how many were world class cruiserweights? Ask yourself also, would he of beaten both of Hayes recent opponents. Hayes fought and knocked out guys a lot bigger then Bellew also. I'll give Tony one thing, he does get up of the canvas, however Haye is a lot more clinical and more skilled than some of the fighters who have put him down. The only thing people are riding on, is Hayes lack of inactivity, that's it. Everything else logically points to an easy fight and the bookmakers agree.
There are some tempting bets out there too.......Haye to win in rounds 1 - 3 is 5/2. Haye to win in rounds 1 - 4 13/8. Worth a few quid.
I do believe Bellew would have beaten Haye's last 2 opponents mate, they were very poor. There's more than a lack of activity that Bellew's riding on imo.
