What if reigning WBC cruiserweight boss Tony Bellew does what he insists he will and defeats David Haye next March? It might seem like a big if in the opinion of many fans, but “Bomber” (a far more palatable nickname to the new one Haye has given to his rival!) can certainly punch very hard – at least he can as a 200-pounder. There is definitely a chance, call it an outside chance if you want, that Bellew could catch Haye on the chin and cause the sensation.
The big question is: what then? Haye would very likely have no option but to retire, especially if suffered a KO’d early on in the fight. Bellew? He would have a ton of options. Would Bellew decide to drop back down to cruiser and get busy defending his WBC belt, the cruiser division being pretty talent-rich right now, or would he stay where the really big money is and tangle with even bigger heavyweights than Haye?
Eddie Hearn, speaking with iFL TV, said that Bellew is “1million percent” coming to win the March fight and that the Liverpool warrior is telling him that after he KO’s Haye he will go after the other big names of the heavyweight division.
“Tony’s telling me he’s gonna absolutely spark David Haye, and then he wants Joshua, Klitschko, Fury, all of them at heavyweight,” Hearn said. “So we’ll have to see what happens.”
Bellew feels Haye – who returned to action this January after having had three-and-a-half years out of the ring, coming back to quickly despatch Mark de Mori and then Arnold “The Cobra” – has not had a real fight in years and will not be able to handle the heat he brings in March. Maybe Haye will get a shock if and when Bellew tests his chin. But even if Bellew does defeat his biter rival, would he really be able to go to war with the huge, huge heavies?
Beating a largely inactive, possibly significantly past his best Haye is one thing – but a young and still to peak Anthony Joshua? An enormous Tyson Fury? An equally huge Wladimir Klitschko? Bellew would surely be biting off way more than he can chew. It’s likely Bellew knows this himself, and is merely psyching himself up for the Haye fight by talking about how he will go after the other heavyweights out there after he’s picked up the win.
But a win over Haye would be a huge enough story all by itself. Still, ask the fans and the majority of them will tell you that the upcoming fight is a veritable mismatch and that the only option Bellew will have after he’s been knocked out by Haye will be to drop back down to cruiserweight. This consensus will not stop millions of people from buying the March fight, however.
Whatever the outcome, Haye-Bellew will in no way be dull.