The notion David Haye and Tony Bellew might shake hands after the deciding chapter of their entertaining but ultimately tedious verbal war gained few adherents when the fighters kept loose reins on hostilities at the weigh-in for a title-free fight on Saturday night where pride, big money and future glory are the real prizes.
That is not to say there will not be a public reconciliation when the smoke clears after what has been shamelessly marketed as a death-threatening grudge match. In the post-truth world into which we have all been hurled, nothing is what it seems. For all the lingering animosity that simmered on a chill winter’s afternoon on the piazza of the O2 Arena in London, there were muted signs of mutual respect and, even less visible, slivers of late nerves.
This should still be a great fight in its own right, however brief. It is a showdown between two fine combatants who risked wearing themselves out with invective before even a blow has been thrown. Bellew says he is fighting for his life; Haye knows victory will move him finger-tinglingly close to a pension showdown with either Anthony Joshua or Wladimir Klitschko – who meet in April – and that should prove sufficient motivation for him to get the job done inside five rounds.
Nevertheless, it surprised the several hundred fans present that Haye, the former world heavyweight champion who has had eight rounds of competitive boxing in five years, weighed nine ounces over 16st, while Bellew, a cruiserweight who has no ambitions of challenging the much bigger Joshua, came in at 15st 3lbs.
There was a late theatrical flourish when Haye demanded that a Perspex screen be placed between them. A brief stare-off, separated by bodyguards, went plastic- and incident-free. There have been sandpit spats in nursery schools less childish than this.
The weights don’t properly represent how much work they have put in over the past couple of months. Haye, as ever, looked glisteningly cut and seriously fit, whatever the rumours of an achilles tendon injury during the week. Bellew, less concerned about his look, was his usual rounded self – and slightly heavier than when he got off the floor to knock out the dangerous Ilunga Makabu at Goodison Park last May to win the WBC cruiserweight title. That victory turned his 2015 movie role in Creed into a reality reel that still seems like a dream to him.
More pointedly, Bellew was 24lbs heavier that night than when Adonis Stevenson stopped him in six rounds three years earlier in Quebec in defence of his light-heavyweight title. There is not much difference in size between Bellew and Haye – but quite a deal in power, as Bellew conceded this week. “It could be over in 20 seconds,” he admitted.
After the weigh-in, Bellew appeared more confident about his chances of winning on Saturday. Speaking about Haye, he said: “He’s shrinking. He looks smaller to me. I’m over the moon. Believe me. He’s going to gas. I could have been heavier if I wanted to. I’m never going to look like that. He’s an Adonis. Pleasing on the eye. Think I might even fancy him. But I’m going to knock seven bells out of him. For the first time in six years, he gets hit back. At some stage there’ll be some crazy stuff in there. I guarantee it. And he’s gonna quit. His true colours will come out after five or six rounds.”
Haye said: “He’s never been hit by a heavyweight before. None of his sparring partners hit like I do. It’s a different sport. He doesn’t know the power I’ve got. I’ve been training very hard, leading a very clean lifestyle. This is my new weight, David Haye .02. I used to fight at 14st 4lb. I’ve done it very slowly. At 36, I can’t be cutting any corners, I need to go in the gym. He doesn’t pay the price. He’s not a professional athlete. I look after myself. He doesn’t.”
Bellew, the family man from Liverpool who despises his playboy opponent from London, reckons he is bigger than Haye – literally, morally and spiritually. Regardless of the result, would he embrace his opponent?
“I’d like to believe we’d shake hands at the end of the fight but to be honest, no,” he said. “He’s insulted where I’m from. That’s a step too far. Listen, I’ve always had respect for him as a fighter. He’s an outstanding fighter. He’s a one-trick pony, but it’s one hell of a trick. That trick just wipes people out in one go.
“But take away the sport aspect, from a personal perspective I think he’s an absolute gobshite. I don’t think he’s a nice fella. I think he’s completely detached himself and forgot where he’s from, 100% [Haye grew up in Bermondsey, not far from the fight venue]. He’s forgotten what’s important in life. And, you know what, in the end it’ll come back to him – and it might be too late in his life then.”
Bellew added: “I know why I do this. I don’t do this shit for me. I don’t want to sit here and talk to you guys or go on a camera where every knob can see me and have a laugh at me. But it pays the bills.
“I say some silly things now and again. I don’t think I’ve ever gone as far as saying some of the things he’s said. I would never talking about hating a fighter. I don’t hate no one. There’s some bad things happened in our sport over this past decade, dying, comas, brain bleeds, scary things.”
Not for the first time, that has been the ugly theme running through this promotion. All concerned – from Sky Sports to the co-promoter Eddie Hearn to the British Boxing Board of Control – have expressed dismay at some of Haye’s more outrageous comments.
Yet they and the fighters, as well as the fans and the media, know that extreme trash talking has become so deeply woven into the fabric of the sport as to make gestures of horror meaningless.
Haye has been the overwhelming culprit, and effects little or no regret – which is also part of the charade. This is what he said to reporters on Thursday, after their final press conference: “I don’t know if we will embrace at the end – I’m not sure if the paramedics will let me. I never asked for this fight, I don’t believe it should be taking place. I think it’s too dangerous, I think something horrific is going to happen on Saturday night.”
So, there we have it. Believe nothing until you see it with your own eyes. On Saturday night, two brave men will give their all and, afterwards, almost certainly will say a lot that is unrecognisable from the vitriol they have traded recently. Haye’s should be the victory speech, Bellew’s the more entertaining. It would be reassuring if both speeches were coherent and worthy of the occasion.
