BJ Flores: Bellew Will Go Down Really Bad in David Haye Fight!

By Ryan Burton

A big domestic showdown is slated to take place on March 4th at the O2 Arena in London, UK.  WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew (28-2-1) will move up to the heavyweight division to face bitter rival and former cruiserweight/heavyweight champion David Haye (28-2).

The Liverpool native captured the vacant title in May when he stopped Ilunga Makabu in three rounds. He successfully defended it in November when he stopped perennial contender BJ Flores in three rounds. 

The first knockdown against Flores appeared to be low but Flores said that he is looking forward to continuing his career and has moved past that experience.

"The fight with Bellew, I am kind of moving past it now. The first two rounds I was doing well then I got caught with a shot low and the ref didn't see it. That is the way it goes sometimes. He won the fight and I congratulate him for it," Flores told BoxingScene.com.

As for Bellew's next fight, Flores feels that he is taking too big a step up not only in weight but also in class. He also thinks that Bellew isn't giving the former champion the respect that he should

"His fight with David Haye, see Bellew is a good cruiserweight and he is powerful at cruiserweight. But with that said, he needs to take a couple fights to warm up to the heavyweight division because Haye is not the same guy he sparred seven or eight years ago, whenever they sparred. It will be interesting early because Bellew believes in himself and ultimately that is going to be the problem and he is going to go down. It is going to be bad, really bad Ryan," predicts Flores.

"I don't think he respects David like he should. If he doesn't then he is ignorant not to.  Every good heavyweight will take a couple fights to warm up before fighting a top guy and make no mistake about it, I don't care how long David has been out, he is still a top heavyweight. He has the speed, the power and the athleticism. He causes a lot of problems for everybody.

"Tony would have been better served taking a couple tune up fights, one at least.  It is just too big of a difference in strength and I just think that David is not just the bigger puncher and bigger guy but the better boxer. It is going to be a rough night for Tony."

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