I think they were banking on Haye landing one shot to take out Bellew, whether Haye was injured or not they obviously thought he still had a chance of landing the bomb and knocking Bellew out. Plus can you imagine the uproar if Haye had retired as soon as the injury happened , he deserves respect for keeping going.
I said at that time mate the fella was a warrior...he needed saving from himself, and that was McGuigan's job. He was never going to get sufficient power and timing (to KO Bellew) in a hook with that achilles injury. He could not launch himself from that foot and he was taking a barrage of punches.
This. Honestly that one legged Haye still had a chance of stopping Bellew. I actually think McGuigan did a disservice to Haye by throwing in the towel. I know David said afterwards it was the right decision. But IMO Haye definitely could have made it through the 12 and he would have made Bellew look even worse.
He could have stopped Bellew, if he'd caught him, Bellew blew himself out and was gassed for a period where if Haye had landed "Lightsout" for Bellew.
Is timing was dreadful before his achilles went, swinging wildly and missing. He may as well have sent Bellew a text to say he was gonna throw a punch he was that easy to read. No way was he going to land on the button with enough power after it gave way.
I have to agree he was throwing wildly and the smoothness he once had wasn't there but I still think if he landed a clean shot on the sweet spot he could have finished Bellew.
McGuigan is a serious young trainer who is looking to build a real camp of champions. Haye is looking for a pay day every two years. it was always going to end in tears...
Haye in - Bellew out. They wouldn't need to coexist in the same gym. You're reading too much into Haye attending the debut fight of a guy he promotes. I would expect him to have been there. We shall see what happens
Did Bellew manage to land a clean shot in this exchange, or did Haye dive/fall out of the ring? This content is protected
I tend to believe Haye had little chance of finding a hail mary punch after the 6th round injury. He did not exactly look great before that,Bellew never looked in any serious danger and Haye's punches were obvious. Haye was always overrated, imo, but even among those who worship the ground he walks on I'm surprised how blind they have been to how far the 2016-'17 version of Haye is a depleted version of where he was at circa 2009-2012. The reason Haye stayed in the fight after the injury was almost certainly influenced by his history. The embarrassing "Toe" excuse for his 2011 Wlad fight was a factor there. Haye went above and beyond and proved himself a warrior in losing to Bellew, and lives to fight or cash in another day. He won some fans, and won some of his old fans back, no doubt.