By Keith Idec

Tony Bellew’s trainer is looking forward to his fighter proving that his win over David Haye wasn’t a fluke in their rematch.

David Coldwell told Sky Sports that all he has heard since Bellew stopped Haye in the 11th round March 4 is that the only reason Bellew won was because Haye suffered a debilitating Achilles’ injury in the sixth round. Haye basically fought on one leg for parts of six rounds, but Coldwell reminds critics that Bellew was succeeding against the former WBA heavyweight champion before Haye got hurt.

“We’ve got half the people saying we fluked it, if David hadn’t gotten injured, we’d have got beat,” Coldwell told Sky Sports for a story posted to its website Sunday. “But also from our perspective, it went exactly how we were aiming. Before the fight, look at what we were saying at the press conferences. It was exactly what happened – we even said his body wouldn’t be able to hold out.

“We weren’t concerned about the early rounds. The fight went how we thought it was going to go. As for this second fight, [Bellew] is going to clear things up. Was this a fluke? Was this for real?”

Bellew was a huge underdog entering their scheduled 12-round fight nearly seven months ago at O2 Arena in London. The former WBC cruiserweight champion dropped Haye once apiece in the sixth and 11th rounds, though, and was ahead by the same margin, 96-93, on all three scorecards before the towel was throw in on Haye’s behalf after Haye was knocked through the ropes late in the 11th round.

Their rematch, set for December 17 at O2 Arena, was officially announced last week.

“I actually expected a better David Haye in the first one,” Coldwell said. “I expected him to be faster and lighter. That was the main point, so this time I do believe he will come in lighter.”

The 6-feet-3 Haye (28-3, 26 KOs), also a former cruiserweight champion, weighed in at 224½ pounds for their first fight. Bellew (29-2-1, 19 KOs), a light heavyweight for most of his career, weighed in at a career-high 213½ pounds for just his second heavyweight bout.

“[Bellew] loves being the underdog,” Coldwell said. “People [are] saying it already, that he is going to get blasted out in a round or two again. Let’s see what happens.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.