Haye vs Bellew: Tony Bellew says it is 'cruiserweight v cruiserweight'
Thursday 2 March 2017 18:08, UK
WBC world cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew says he is primed to deliver a career-best performance against David Haye at the O2 on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
And Bellew thinks that, while he is ready for a brutal encounter, Haye is not capable of '12 hard rounds'.
The pair will meet in an eagerly-anticipated heavyweight showdown on Saturday night and the confident Haye has been talking as if defeat is out of the question.
But the pair went face-to-face at the end of a media conference on Thursday and Bellew thinks he saw signs of weakness in the Londoner.
Asked what he had said to Haye, Bellew told Sky Sports News HQ: "I just said 'the eyes don't lie, the eyes never ever lie'.
"I looked in his eyes and he does not have the eyes of a man who believes the things he is saying.
"He said, 'it's a cruiserweight against a big heavyweight', and then I had to bring him back down to earth and let him know, 'there is no big heavyweight here, only Del-boy Chisora!'
"It's cruiserweight v cruiserweight and I think that will show on the scales tomorrow."
The 36-year-old Haye is styling himself as Hayemaker 2.0 and claims he is an even more formidable proposition than when he was heavyweight champion of the world, but Bellew is unconvinced.
"It's unbelievable, this fella thinks he is John McClane out of Die Hard," Bellew added.
"Hayemaker 2.0. What happened to 1.0? When I beat him on Saturday, is there going to be a Hayemaker 3.0, is that what I will be facing in a rematch?
"He's just a boxer, a boxer who has had a few injuries. You're still David Haye, you are not Hayemaker 2.0 or Hayefaker 3.0.
"He's just David Haye, I'm just Tony Bellew, we are going to have a fight, loads of people are going to watch it, and that is just the way it is.
"I just have to be me. Will I have to give a career-best performance? Yes, I will. Am I capable of doing it? Yes, I am. Is he capable of 12 hard rounds? No, he's not.
"The things I have just said, they are all facts. One of us is prepared for an all-out absolute trench war.
"I have prepared to be hit harder than I have ever been hit before, I have done everything I possibly can in camp."
Haye thinks Bellew showed signs of nervousness during Thursday's staredown but Bellew says that is far from the case.
"I am nice and relaxed," he added. "I am focused, I am calm.
"I know what is in front of me, I know the mountain, task and challenge I have got ahead of me and, you know what, I am going to find a way to get round it, get over it. I have to.
"I go into the ring every time with the same thought in my mind - just win.
"On Saturday night, when I make that walk out there, I will find a way."
