Hearn: Bellew The Favorite in Rematch, Haye is Over if He Loses

On December 17th at the O2 Arena in London, it's going to be repeat or redemption when heavyweights Tony Bellew (29-2-1, 19 KOs) and David Haye (28-3, 26 KOs) square off for the second time.

Back in March, at the same venue, Haye was a massive favorite when he fought Bellew, who was moving up from the cruiserweight division.

Most had expected an early knockout victory for Haye within the first six rounds, and many had doubts the contest would go beyond three rounds.

But the contest went in a different direction, as Bellew was holding his own after five rounds. During the sixth, Haye fully ruptured his Achilles and became a one-legged fighter. Unable to defend himself and suffering his second knockdown of the fight, Haye saw his corner throw in the towel in the eleventh round - which gave Bellew a huge upset stoppage win.

This time around, Haye is still viewed as the favorite to win, but not be as wide or a margin as he was the first time around.

While Hearn was very nervous the first time around, he is not as nervous in the rematch. He feels Bellew is now the favorite - and has a much stronger feeling about his boxer coming away with the victory than he did in the first meeting.

"Tony Bellew is one of the most underrated fighters in world boxing. He doesn't look like David Haye or Anthony Joshua but what he has got is plenty of heart, plenty of bottle and he can really fight as well," Hearn told Talk Sport.

"This time I see Bellew as the favourite. You have got a guy who believes he can win. He hoped he could win last time, and maybe he believed it, but he has taken the power [of Haye]. He took all his punches for five rounds. This is a real good heavyweight fight. For David Haye, if he loses this fight his entire career is over."