Former two division world champion David Haye admits that he underestimated Tony Bellew in their first meeting last March at the O2 Arena in London.
The former heavyweight world champion, 37, was stopped in the eleventh round. During the fight, he suffered a severe injury when his achilles ruptured. But even prior to the injury, Haye had his hands full and he wasn't dominating the action as many had expected.
A rematch was set down for December 17, but Haye withdrew with an injury to his left bicep.
The fight is now set to go, back at the O2 Arena, on May 5th.
While Haye says the injury greatly affected him, he blames his overall mindset for the way the contest played out - underestimating Bellew, who was moving up from the cruiserweight division and had previously been knocked out at 175-pounds.
"You have to go into a fight with the correct mindset," Haye wrote in a column for the Mirror. "In my mind, I was just going to go in there and knock Tony [Bellew] out.
"It sounds simple and primitive but that's what it was, I had no fear of his power. Normally when I go into a fight I make sure I don't get hit but I thought it didn't matter for this one. I thought that even if he hit me, it would make no difference; I thought there was no way I could lose."
This time around, Haye is going in there with a very different outlook on Bellew's abilities and the danger involved.
"I could go into this fight with the same mentality but I'm not going to. Once you step in the ring with a fighter you naturally realise a level of respect for that person, regardless of whether you like them or not," Haye wrote.
"On May 5, I'm going to go into it believing he can hurt me; having that awareness wakes you up, makes you sharper and heightens your senses. I'm going back to basics for this fight and going back to what made me successful in the first place and I'm looking forward to showing people what they didn't think I still have."