HAYE WILL KEEP COOL
DAVID HAYE insists he won’t let Tony Bellew psyche him out this time.
The former cruiserweight and heavyweight world champion admits he lost the plot before their first clash last year which ended with Bellew stopping Haye in the 11th round.
Haye, 37, swore at and made vile threats to his rival and even shouted at fans at a press conference before the first fight.
But ahead of Saturday’s rematch at the O2 Arena, Haye believes keeping his cool will be the key to victory after his wild performance last time out saw him rupture his Achilles in the sixth round.
Haye said: “The last time round I came in angry, screaming and shouting, whooping and hollering and said some horrendous things to the good people of Liverpool.
“I paid the ultimate price because I talked big and then under-performed terribly. All the big talk I dished out, he made me eat my words. This time round I want to – and this sounds a bit of a cliche – let my fighting do the talking.
“I don’t need a sports psychologist to tell me the way I was effing and blinding the last time I was in Liverpool was the wrong mindset.
Gutter
“This time round I’m letting him say what he wants to say, ask the questions he wants to ask and good luck with that, mate.
“I’m not going to lower myself to that again. Last time I lowered myself to it and that’s where he is. He’s in the gutter, that’s where he performs. He played a masterful game last time. That’s not going to happen this time round. He’s going to be playing my game.”
Haye may have got injured halfway through their first clash but even before then it was one of his worst displays.
He added: “It was painful. I analysed it and it was tough to watch. I’m watching it and I’m thinking, ‘what are you doing?’.
“The punches I was throwing, if I had watched someone else do that, I would have said, ‘Boxing ain’t for you, mate. You haven’t got what it takes to even make it past Southern Area level’.”
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