Comments Thread For: Haye Admits He Knew 35 Seconds Into Bellew Rematch That Career Was Over

[kevin-novice]

I thought haye would win both times tbh.

[Mindgames]

He definitely won the round that Bellew did nothing in (think just round 1). To be fair I think he knew he was in trouble before the first fight. He wanted to fight a few bums to earn a title shot swan-song but Bellew called him out and Hearn offered him too much money to say no

I wouldn't argue with any of that. He had two absolute joke comeback fights, thought about old Briggs but then thought better of it. I knew then he was only about an earner. He wasn't really training, he was living it up in Miami,that stuff in the trailers wasnt a joke, he really thought he would do Bellew with the first punch. Then he was gonna run for against AJ and either lose on points or retire injured. I cant fault him for marketing, and he makes a good pundit but he really was a con man as a heavyweight.

[deathofaclown]

I remember watching it with my girlfriend and soon as the bell went, i said Haye looks done, like he was petrified to put any weight on the leg that was damaged. His stance looked very weird.

Surely he must’ve known in sparring too? - can’t blame him for taking the rematch though, he earned millions just for the rematch alone. Nice retirement fight if you can get it. Haye isn’t a ****** man and he’s someone who knows a lot about strength and conditioning and about the body. There’s no way didn’t know he was already finished. It’s hard to walk away from that last fight when it’s great money.

Same as Groves knew he was done before that WBSS final, he’s basically admitted he was retiring either way, his shoulder was gone, but who wouldn’t earn millions for their family for one last fight?. They made good money anyway, but not enough to just leave a few million on the table.

[alexguiness]

Haye was a decent CW but in honestly a terrible HW.

His best win was who, Chisora?

His resume is full of bums and he got his ears boxed off by Carl Thompson.

Always full of excuses when he lost as well.

[GlassJoey]

"The early rounds that i was winning?". He never got a good shot off in the whole fight. He thought Bellew was easy money, and like all these people who say they came in injured not 100%, you are basically admitting you were conning the public. So thanks Dave, from the heart of my bottom.. 🖕

He definitely won the round that Bellew did nothing in (think just round 1). To be fair I think he knew he was in trouble before the first fight. He wanted to fight a few bums to earn a title shot swan-song but Bellew called him out and Hearn offered him too much money to say no

[Roberto Vasquez]

Haye should have known before if had done proper sparring. It might be that he just felt off on the day.

[paulf]

Haye was an ATG cruiserweight; he treated his run at heavy as an a cash/opportunity grab to a degree of which we've rarely seen. In an insanely thin heavyweight era, he still veered away from the name guys; Adamek, Peter, Dimitrenko, Arreola, Ustinov, Povetkin... fought none of em. Had he not got the Wlad fight, he was planning on fighting Antonio Tarver next.

Makes me think of that Hemingway line, actually. "He had had his life and it was over and then he went on living it again with different people and more money, with the best of the same places."

Despite that, he was arguably the best opponent prime Wlad ever faced.

The fights with Bellew honestly resulted in me finding a lot more respect for both guys.

[tokon]

He knew before he even got in the ring for the rematch, much like Nigel Benn and his comeback, it was all for a last pay cheque. Just because you have a six pack doesn’t mean you are in fighting shape, doesn’t mean your body is ready for war.

Yeah, he knew before he ever fought bellew the first time his career was over. Excellent cruiser but massively overated as a heavyweight imo.

[Enzo Mc is SHIT]

In fairness, the bellew loss was the best thing that ever happened for Haye's career After his humility in defeat, the public's opinion softened on him somewhat and that seemingly opened up punditry work and helped keep him relevant.

Good post. He was obviously badly injured in the first fight and it looked like he probably got another one in the second but kept his mouth shut and accepted defeat.

[Tatabanya]

Why is Haye being credited for beating journeyman? I've never seen a HW get so much praise for beating such a poor level of opposition as David Haye.

If Haye had half the boxing ability as he did to sell a fight he'd be still unified HW champion to this day.

The great James Toney perfectly summarized that era of heavyweights when he referred to these guys as "David Gay and the Bìtchko Sisters"