Watch the moment David Haye snaps his Achilles – and Tony Bellew’s stunned reaction before he goes in for kill
Bellew beat hobbling Hayemaker with 11th round TKO in fight of the year contender
TONY BELLEW instantly realised the moment that David Haye ruptured his Achilles in the sixth round of their epic heavyweight battle on Saturday night.
Haye was left hobbling on one leg in the remaining rounds after injuring himself - with heavy underdog Bellew taking full advantage to secure a TKO in a scintillating grudge match at London's O2.
Haye, 36, had denied in the build-up that he had any injuries after SunSport had exclusively revealed last week he flew to Munich to see a specialist over his Achilles.
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But despite claiming HE was the one to start the rumours, Haye's Achilles - much like the man in Greek myth - proved his undoing.
The former world champion was forced to heavily strap his right leg after enduring the painful injury in the sixth round.
Haye had started quickly but despite hitting Bellew with good shots the Liverpudlian kept coming.
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Video captured the moment Haye hurt his right heel - and the moment Bellew, 34, smelt blood.
As Haye limped on one leg, Bellew took control.
After the fight Bellew even revealed that he had told Haye to STOP.
He said: "Just before the stoppage I looked at David and said ‘stop now’.
"He shook his head. He went beyond the call of duty.
"I looked at Shane McGuigan [Haye’s trainer] and said ‘stop it’. I was worried as he couldn’t box."
He added: "In rounds four and five he was tired but he was blocking, when we got to nine, I felt myself on top of him and I could feel him panicking.
"I said, 'stop, stop' and he said 'no'. He gets a lot of admiration from me from a sportsman’s perspective."
He twice put Haye on the canvas, the second time seeing the Londoner tangled in the ropes and struggling to get back up.
Haye beat the count but his corner threw in the towel to give Bellew an unlikely win.
Haye was hospitalised after the fight and had successful surgery.
Bellew has now revealed he could retire after the blockbuster win.
He said: "Boxing is a brutal, hard combat sport and I will retire from boxing, boxing will not retire me.
"I got up this morning and I felt like I was 85 years old. I'm in so much pain.
"My right hand is smashed to bits - it looks like a purple pillow. My face has got cuts on it and my nose is banged up.
"I don't know how many more times I can do it. It is going to have to take something big and special to draw me back out."