Promoter Eddie Hearn was spot-on in his assessment of the options available to both Tony Bellew and David Haye after their heavyweight showdown in March.
Bellew’s first foray into that weight class proved a successful one as he stopped his British rival in the 11th round in London’s O2 Arena.
The fact that ‘Bomber’ came out on top means that the ball is very much in his court now as doors such as Deontay Wilder, Joseph Parker and Dillian Whyte opened up for Bellew after he proved his ability to compete in the heavier division.
“The only fight for Haye is Bellew,” Hearn said after the fight. “Bellew has five or six options. We understand the demand for Haye-Bellew II and it’s certainly something that we would look at.”
An appetite certainly exists for the rematch, especially given the tangible animosity that exists between Bellew and Haye.
But Bellew’s trainer Dave Coldwell has seemingly put the pressure on ‘The Hayemaker’ by suggesting that Bellew doesn’t intend to wait around for the second meeting.
Haye ruptured his Achilles tendon midway through the first fight and the injury is ultimately what led to the beginning of the end for him against the man he predicted he would “hospitalise.”
Coldwell has told Haye to either confirm that he will return for a rematch before the end of the year or accept that Bellew will look elsewhere for his next challenge.
“David Haye’s fans want a rematch but Haye isn’t someone that can give us a date. With an active fighter like Joseph Parker or Deontay Wilder, we can make a date,” Coldwell wrote in his Sky Sports column.
“We don’t know if Haye is ever going to fight again. So if we want to fight in October, are you telling me Haye can do that?
“He’s got a bad injury. It’s great to see him walking again, but Haye isn’t going to know if he can fight again until he starts boxing training. I’m not talking about lifting weights or doing a leg press. I’m talking about dynamic boxing, taking quick steps to his left or right, and pushing off his back foot.
“Don’t forget, I said in the build-up to the last fight that Haye doesn’t know if his body will hold up. It happened just like I said it would. How does he now know that his body will cope with the rigours of training? If so, will it be a year that he’s out? What is Tony supposed to do, just sit and fight nobody?”
In what seems like an eerie prediction of Coldwell’s challenge, which was published on Tuesday morning, Haye took to Instagram on Monday to show off the fact that he had indeed returned to light boxing training.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUHimz_l-q-/?taken-by=mrdavidhaye&hl=en
The 36-year-old appeared comfortable hitting the heavy bag and looked well on his way down the road to recovery.
“First time punching in just over 2 months, upper felt solid, naturally taking it very easy with lower leg,” Haye wrote.
“Still a long way to go, but steadily moving in the right direction.”
