Trash-talking Haye fired up by his grudge against Bellew
Former world heavyweight champion is returning to ring with a score to settle, he tells Gareth A Davies
Former world heavyweight champion David Haye has barely had a competitive fight in more than four years: now he is on course to star in two of the most lucrative prize fights in Britain in 2017.
Haye, 36, throws himself into a heavyweight grudge scrap with Tony Bellew next Saturday. He said he will “hospitalise” the Liverpudlian when they clash at the 02 Arena in London. Win that, and he would seek to meet the International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
Haye’s barrage of dark – tasteless, even – pronouncements were designed to get into Bellew’s psyche. The pair detest each other, and Bellew, the World Boxing Council cruiserweight champion, is stepping up in weight because he has been desperate to fight Haye since they were amateurs. Haye has form: he told Audley Harrison their contest would be “as onesided as a gang rape”, and Jean-Marc Mormeck that he would beat him like “Rodney King in the LA riots”. Over lunch, Haye said: “I’d be very surprised if he [Bellew]has a licensed fight after March 4. It’s a good thing he’ll get a big payday for our fight because that WBC title he’s got will be pointless. He’s so passionate. As he’s said many, many times, he’ll keep getting up. “He said he’s willing to die in the ring. If that is the case, and he is telling the truth, I’m the last person on the planet you want to fight. I punch that hard. The only thing that is going to happen is serious damage to his head. He has put himself in a very dangerous position. I hope if he does care for his family like he says he does, he does not invite them to the fight. “He needs to make sure they do not watch it on TV at home. It would be pretty sad for his family to witness first-hand live what I’m going to do to their dad or husband. He has definitely lit a fire under me. I’m going to make this fight the most spectacular knockout of all of my fights. “I’m not worrying about body shots or jabbing. I’m looking at putting a combination together where he is unconscious but his brain hasn’t told his legs to fall down and I’m still hitting him while he’s upright.” After losing to Wladimir Klitschko in 2011 and beating Dereck Chisora at Upton Park the following year after they had brawled at a Munich press conference, Haye was out of the ring with injury until two meaningless fights last year.
But he stayed in the public eye through appearances on television shows I’m a Celebrity ..., The Jonathan Ross Show, Alan Carr: Chatty Man and The Cube. Haye told The Sunday Telegraph: “I realised many moons
ago that you could be the greatest fighter on the planet but if nobody acknowledges it or knows it, it doesn’t matter. Pay cheques only come when the masses turn out to see you. I wanted to make sure in that time out that I was on every single game show and quiz show and news show. When it came time to make a comeback 3½ years after my last fight, we had a sellout crowd. And we had over three million people tune in.
“On I’m a Celebrity... we had over 12 million people watching every day. That’s coverage you can’t buy. It was an opportunity for me to show people who I really am. People had only ever seen me at press conferences. They’d only seen ‘The Hayemaker’, where I’m screaming and shouting and saying I’ll knock you out.”
There is a comparison, he reckons, with Floyd Mayweather. “If you look at Mayweather’s PPV [pay-per-view] numbers, they’ve gone through the roof because he’s got this persona of a guy who doesn’t care about anything. People love to hate him.
“Imagine if he was throwing money at his opponents’ faces and doing all this crazy stuff. People would want to see him lose but they would still pay to see it. That’s what it’s all about. Making people feel passionately about you one way or another.”
Haye is back on Saturday’s opponent, who had a starring role in last year’s Rocky film, Creed. “I punched a guy [Bellew] at a press conference. It gets people emotionally
connected to the events, not that I went out of my way to punch people [Bellew and Chisora] on purpose. The situation arose and I threw a punch and his chin was in the way.
“Credit to Tony Bellew. Although he’s a moron, he’s really assisted in selling this event. He’s earned his money. Although he’s going to get a hell of a beating, he’s played his part. Come fight night, I get the chance to silence that bully. I’m too big, too strong. I’ve been fighting way too long for some fat, chubby Scouse guy to intimidate me.”
And if Haye does come through against Bellew, it will be on to Joshua, for a shot at the world crown. And, more than likely, a whole new level of trash-talking.