Haye Denies Return is Money Motivated, Vows To Drill Bellew

By Edward Chaykovsky

Former two division world champion David Haye (28-2, 26KOs) is eager to get his hands on domestic rival Tony Bellew (28-2-1, 18KOs) when they collide on March 4th at the O2 Arena in London.

The two boxers have been trading words for most of the year and even traded punches during their official press conference to announce the Sky Sports Box Office showdown.

Bellew, who holds the WBC cruiserweight world title, is taking a big risk by moving up in weight to challenge Haye. While Haye is also a former cruiserweight champion and the two boxers are practically the same size - Haye is naturally bigger, faster and physically stronger with power in both hands. 

Some have accused Haye of returning to the sport for a cash grab and view the upcoming fight with Bellew as nothing more than "money fight."

Haye, who returned to the ring in January after being away since July of 2012, rejects those claims and maintains that his comeback was completely motivated by the goal of capturing a heavyweight world title.  

"The comeback is about winning the heavyweight championship of the world. My first two fights were on Dave, there were no massive pay-days. I could have fought for three or four times as much. I was offered pay-per-view but I chose to take smaller money, fighting similar opponents, just so the masses could see it," Haye told GQ.

"If I was only coming back for the money those fights wouldn’t have happened on Dave, they would have happened on Sky Sports or BoxNation where there was a lot more money being presented to me. The main prize is the heavyweight title, but the money will come with it along the way."

On the other hand, Haye admits that Bellew got under his skin and may have verbally lured him in to accept the idea of fighting him on pay-per-view. Bellew has been calling for this fight for most of the year, but it finally came together as 2016 was coming to a close.

"He’s got a big heart. He’s very tough and durable. He presses the action and has got a decent selection of punches. And he’s got a mouth – he likes to sell a fight," Haye said.

"He likes to get under people’s skin. He does [get under my skin]. His voice is grating. The whole “I did this, I did that” thing … I’m like, dude, I was the heavyweight champion of the world. You have never achieved anything in the ring that could come close to that. He’s a very annoying human being. I know people who know him and they say that’s just how he is."

"You can expect fireworks from the first bell. You can expect a very exciting fight and a sell-out crowd where people are going to go bananas. The fight will end exactly when I choose for it to end. Whatever round I choose to knock Bellew out, that will be when it ends."