David Haye vs Tony Bellew: The Scouse bomber labels the ex-heavyweight champ Sideshow Bob and slams him for his sore-toe excuse in the loss to Wladimir Klitschko
The Hayemaker hits back by calling the Everton icon a coward and claims his previous two opponents would have flattened the current cruiserweight boss
Tony Bellew and David Haye will meet in an all-British heavyweight fight on 4 March at London's O2 Arena with nothing but honour and bragging rights on the line and the insults and abuse have has already started flying.
WBC cruiserweight champ Bellew, 33, taunted the former heavyweight champion after retaining his title by knocking out BJ Flores - a friend of Haye's - in October and the vicious tirades have continued back and forth.
Bellew has coated his rival for his shameful showing against Wladimir Klitschko and his two most recent fights against pushovers Mark de Mori and Arnold Gjergjaj. While Haye claims Bellew is delusional. Here is the transcription from their recent ruck on Sky Sports...
Keep up-to-date with all the latest transfer news and gossip ahead of the January window with SunSport’s daily LIVE blog.
Bellew: “Seeing that I’ve given in to all his diva-ish demands, I’m going to let Sideshow Bob go first.”
Haye: “He’s a coward. He realises what’s going to happen on the night. I’m going to absolutely destroy him.
“It’s all big talk prior to the fight. Now the fight’s signed I can already feel him cowering away because he knows the task in hand is too big, too strong, too fast and too powerful. He’s going to end up knocked spark out.”
Bellew: “A coward? Are we talking about the same person? Listen here clown, there’s only one coward here and that’s you.
“Don’t whinge about no sore toe this time. When the blows get traded you’ll get no excuses from me. You just be prepared to go to the level I’m going to go to.
“There ain’t no cowards here — the only coward is you and that clown of a haircut. You’re getting dealt with son. You’re not prepared for what I’m going to bring.
“You haven’t been in a real fight for five years, boy. You ain’t been in a real fight for years. Do you believe them last two opponents were real fights? I’d smash the pair of them in two rounds. Mate, they’re absolutely poor, get real.”
Haye: “They’d have beaten you, trust me. They’d have both knocked you out. Now you’ve got your opportunity to come up to heavyweight and see if your punch power translates to the division or if it’s just at heavyweight.
“You can hit me and nothing’s going to happen. Wladimir Klitschko hit me on the chin and nothing happened.”
Bellew: “Are you kidding me mate? If super-middleweights can make you dance, I’m going to make you sleep.”
Haye: “I was world champion before you even started boxing.”
Bellew: “It doesn’t matter. The greatest night of your career was against (Jean-Marc) Mormeck. That was at cruiserweight. You have never beat a world-class heavyweight. You aren’t a heavyweight. You know what, I’m not even going to call you David — your name’s Bob.”
Haye: “You’re going to feel a real heavyweight punch. Talk to me after the first jab. When the first jab rams your teeth down your throat, then you can talk. Yap, yap, yap, that’s all you do. Talk, talk, talk. You’re putting a chiwawa in with a pitbull.”
Bellew: It’s quite simple, I hit him clean on the chin and he goes to sleep. I only need to hit him on the chin, the top of the head, anywhere. Other guys rock him, wobble him. Guys far lesser than me.
“If I hit him clean he’s going. But I’m under no illusion. He hits me first, I’m going too. This is high-class boxing. This is what happens when two punchers meet. If this fight comes down to guts, determination or anything past four rounds, David is going to quit. David’s going to b****, because that’s what David is.
“Sideshow Bob will quit. He hasn’t been in a competitive fight for as long as I can remember. He’s been picking clowns. He’s never beat fully ranked heavyweight. Who’s he beat at heavyweight? His best win is at cruiserweight and he’s now facing the best cruiserweight in the world. He’s back in his original and true weight class.”
Haye: “Keep diminishing my achievements to make yours seem a little bit better. Keep doing that. If you need confidence by saying I haven’t fought anyone, you believe that. If you think I haven’t beaten anyone, you keep believing that.”
Bellew: “Ok then, David. Tell me who you beat at heavyweight?”
Haye: “Don’t worry about my credentials, worry about what you do in the ring. Don’t worry about trying to say ‘did you do this, did you do that?’ When the first bell rings, you’ll see exactly what my credentials are.”
Bellew: “As long as there’s no excuses when I hit you on the button, as long as there’s no excuses. When I hit you on the button, I don’t want to hear anything like ‘oh my toe’s sore’.”
Haye: “Nothing’s going to happen. They’ll bounce off my chin. You can’t hit hard enough to hurt me. You don’t hit hard enough to hurt me. I’ll let you hit me on the chin, it won’t do anything.”
Bellew: “Okey dokey. I only need to hit you on that stupid haircut and it’ll make a difference. If I hit that, you’re going to dance. People lesser than me have dropped you.”
Haye: “Not for me. The longer the fight goes, the tougher it is for him. Listen, we’re both a similar size. I’ve been a heavyweight for longer. I used to be the same the weight he currently holds a world title at, so in terms of looking at us together there’s not a lot of difference.
“The difference is I’ve been in the ring competing in sparring and in fights against heavyweights for many years now. And that type of grounding, that type of foundation I’ve built over many years are going to be real evident as soon as that first bell rings.”
Related Stories
Bellew: “I’m 6ft 3in and he’s 6ft 3in. He looks about 6ft 9in with that big sponge on top of his head, but listen he is what he is. Make no mistake — David Haye is the most dangerous heavyweight in the world and everybody is scared to face him.
He’s one of the biggest draws in boxing in the world, yet none of the champions want to face him. Why is it? Because they’re scared.
He is very quick for a heavyweight, he has got power.
“But they do not see the vulnerabilities I see. He is there to be hit. His left hand is that low he’s just begging to be belted with a right hand.
He always trades, he’s wild himself, he’s there to be hit. I do not see the big fear factor. I see how good he is. Yes, he is good.
He’s exceptional at what he does and he’s the most dangerous active heavyweight in the world, but he has huge vulnerabilities.
“What he’s done is absolutely discredit the sport. He’s taken the guys in this business for mugs. He knows deep down the last two guys are…”
Haye: “He’s jealous.”
Bellew: “Listen David, you wish you were me. You wish you were in that Hollywood movie. You went to Hollywood and failed.
You went to Hollywood and failed, but I went there and cracked it. You’ve been living in nightclubs ever since you retired.
David, you’re fighting me because you’re broke. Let me tell ya, I’m the biggest money fight there is for you and that’s why you’re fighting me.
“You don’t really want to fight me. I’m the first live guy you’ve fought since Wladimir Klitschko.
And let’s just get something straight, you didn’t fight Wladimir Klitschko, you danced and ran all night. You danced and ran all night against Wlad.”
Haye: “I’m going to shut his mouth. Can you not hear why I’m fighting him? Everybody pulls me up and asks when I’m going to shut that loudmouth up. That’s all people want to see.
“He’s not a stepping stone to anything. He’s just a marking time fight to keep the fans happy and keep myself active until I get a world title fight. That’s all it is.
“What is there to like about him? There’s nothing to like about him whatsoever. He’s just constantly talks foolishness non-stop. He’s talked himself into a situation where he’s going to get hurt. I’m the hardest-hitting heavyweight on the planet and you’re never going to be hit as hard as I do.”
Bellew: “Shhhh. Shhh Bob. Be quiet and talk sense again. You said the same about BJ and what happened to him? He got bounced off the floor four times, Bob. You said BJ was going to do me. You went on TV and said BJ was going to beat me. BJ got bounced off the floor.
“You know actually, BJ probably showed more guts. You wouldn’t get up as many times as him. I only need to drop you once. You haven’t got the fight in you to carry on going. He did because winning a world title for him was the dream. You have not got the bottle he has got.
“When you get dropped for the first time, you will not get up. We both know, and this is a fact, no matter how hard you hit me, if I can possibly get up I’m going to get up and fight. Trust me son, when 10oz gloves go on and I hit that clown haircut…”
Haye: “If you want to go blow for blow, toe to toe, let’s do it. You’re going to run and hide, you’re going to duck and dive, you’re going to try and run away. We both know it. But I’m going to catch you, I’m going to corner you and destroy you.”
Bellew: “He’ll come in light. He has to come in light because he does not want to fight anybody who’s quick, so he’ll wanna come in light. For me, I’m going to come in at what I feel comfortable at. There is no plan. I have no reserved weight. He can be what he wants.
“People forget that when the cruiserweight division was 13st 8lb, David made it really easy. There was no struggle at the weight. All of a sudden, the weight class goes up to 14st 4oz and David started having problems. I don’t see where that came from.
David might be able to elaborate on why he struggled to make the cruiserweight limit, but he can be whatever he wants. I don’t care what he is.
“You can’t put muscles or extra weight on your chin. When you hit his fragile chin, and it is fragile, he can be hurt.
With 10oz gloves on, anyone gets his on the chin or the head you’re going to feel it. Bob, you’re going to feel it on March 4.”
Haye: “I’ll probably be lighter. I’ve been training for a long time now. The longer you train the lower your body fat gets, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I come lighter than I did in my last two fights. As I’ve been training, as I’ve been training, my weight’s been coming down.
“I walk across the ring and jab him in the face, that’s how I win the fight. The first jab that lands, that’s when you realise I jab harder than any right hand he’s ever taken in his life. Then you’re going to see him scurry round the ring like the rodent that he is looking for a way out.”
Bellew: Trust me when I say I will fire everything I have got and you will not take it.
Every time it’s come down to where you’ve had to show heart, you’ve bitched. You b*****d against Carl Thompson and bottled it against Klitschko.
The only time you’ve shown true heart and bottle was against Mormeck. That is the only time in your whole career and that was to fulfil a dream. You’ve bottled it on two occasions.
You had the power and speed to hit Wladimir but you bottled it. And you know you did. You blamed it on your little toe.
“You’re a joke, you’re a clown and you’re destroying boxing. The sooner I get you out of boxing the better because all you’re doing is taking the game for a joke. It’s not a joke. You need to take it for real, appreciate the sport and do good by it.”