By Edward Chaykovsky
WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew is confident that David Haye is wasting his time by making predictions about a potential fight with IBF heavyweight king Anthony Joshua.
Bellew will move up to the heavyweight division to face Haye, a former two division world champion, on March 4th at the O2 Arena in London.
Earlier today, Haye made a bold prediction that he would blast out Joshua in three rounds. Joshua defends his title this Saturday against Eric Molina in Manchester. Both Haye and Bellew are expected to be ringside.
Haye is hoping the fight with Bellew will create a springboard effect to land a Joshua payday next summer. Provided Joshua wins on Saturday, he would then go on to face former division ruler Wladimir Klitschko in late April. Klitschko dominated Haye back in 2011.
Haye, and many insiders, expect the contest with Bellew to be a one-sided blowout. Bellew has promised to upset the odds by knocking Haye out.
"David Haye is wasting his time watching Joshua because he's not going to get the chance to fight him if I've got anything to do with it - and I will have plenty to do with it," Bellew told Sky Sports.
"If anyone who is going to get to Joshua out of the two of us, it's me - and I am not even a heavyweight, I'm a cruiserweight. If Haye wants to try and do that, he's got to come through me on March 4 and I am going to knock him out. He hasn't had a live opponent for five years. There might be one thing he benefits from being ringside on Saturday: he will realise he's just out of touch with boxing. He's out of touch with the sport and the whole business because he clearly thinks it's a pantomime.
"It's not. It is a serious business and not one I am playing with, yet I feel that's exactly what he's doing. It will be 12 weeks from Saturday and we will see who is the man is. Make no mistake, once I knock him out, I will be the man to beat."
