There have been a number of tragedies in the boxing ring in recent times.
Nick Blackwell was infamously forced to retire after sustaining a serious head injury in a bout with Chris Eubank Jr. last year while, only last week, a 17-year-old amateur boxer by the name of Ed Bilbey died during a tournament match in Derbyshire.
It’s one of the most dangerous sports that one can compete in and it comes as no surprise that experienced fighters are worried about the potentially fatal consequences that exist every time they lace up their gloves.
David Haye’s pre-fight comments about his desire to hospitalise rival Tony Bellew were rightly condemned by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBBofC) given their unsporting nature.
Comments did not go down well https://t.co/3yQ7GnvvC5
— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) February 27, 2017
And the comments clearly got to Bellew, who ultimately came out on top in their grudge match at the O2 Arena.
Bellew has revealed that, for the first time, he prepared a will before he took the ring.
“There’s people in situations and it’s very, very frightening. The situations some fighters have been in recently. I’ll be honest, it scares me,” Bellew told Boxing News.
“People don’t know this but I wrote a will before that fight. It’s the only time I’ve ever done it in my whole career. I wrote a will two weeks before leaving everything to my missus in case anything happened to me because I knew he was capable of really, really hurting me.
“Don’t get me wrong, I knew I’m capable of hurting him too. That’s the extreme measure I went to. To hear this guy saying the things he was saying, I just found it absolutely disgusting.”
The trash talk that preceded the bout, Bellew’s first at heavyweight, made it an unmissable event for fight fans.
And while the pair embraced in the ring after Haye’s corner was forced to throw in the towel once the former world heavyweight and cruiserweight champion could no longer put weight on his right leg due to an Achilles injury, Bellew insists that the bad blood still exists.
“I can’t even lie and tell you it’s water under the bridge because it’s not, I think he’s an arsehole,” he added.
“I think he was wrong for saying the things he said. I could’ve forgiven him if he came out after the fight and said that he’d said things just to get a reaction out of me but he hasn’t, he’s come out and said he actually meant every single word he said. That disgusted me even more.
“It’s all done with now and the only person who went to hospital that night was that clown. Funny how it all works out.”
