Bellew defeats Haye despite breaking his hand

TONY Bellew has revealed he broke his hand in the early stages of his heavyweight victory over David Haye.

It was clear Haye was struggling physically before his trainer Shane McGuigan threw in the towel in the 11th round at London’s O2 Arena, with the 36-year-old suffering an Achilles injury at the halfway point of the bout.

It was announced yesterday that Haye’s injury had been operated on.

A statement from the fighter’s representatives read: “David underwent surgery to his right Achilles this afternoon, after completely rupturing the tendon during Saturday night’s fight with Tony Bellew.

“David would like to thank everyone for their many messages of support, as well as the staff at the hospital.”

However, Bellew said he was also battling an injury.

He commented: “I’m just happy David’s home and healthy and safe. We did receive injuries. I broke my right hand in the second or third round. It’s very sore now.

“I had a bad right knee myself going in but this is not what people want to hear. This is why I asked David from the start: ‘Are you OK?’ And believe me for four rounds he was fine.”

Bellew said he had put the injury out of his mind during the fight, adding: “I don’t feel the pain, all I think about is winning.”

The build-up to the fight was dominated by trash-talking between the pair but they were respectful of each other afterwards and a rematch could even be on the cards.

Bellew condemned Haye’s threats in the build-up, saying: “I know there’s been a lot of bad blood and I think some of the things he said were disgusting and distasteful but it was purely one way. I didn’t want to hurt David.”