Tony Bellew vs David Haye 2: Words turn physical as boxers shove each other and Inbetweeners star turns up
Haye is looking for revenge after his shock loss 14 months ago
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Your support makes all the difference.Tony Bellew shoved David Haye following a bitter verbal exchange as tensions boiled over at the pair’s final press conference ahead of this weekend’s fight at the O2 Arena in London.
An unexpected appearance from James Buckley, who plays ‘Jay’ from the BAFTA award-winning series The Inbetweeners, also interrupted proceedings before things later got heated.
Buckley appeared on stage with a pair of glasses for Haye’s representative Adam Moralee, who Bellew had likened to Will from the comedy series, before taking on the former cruiserweight champion, saying: “He’s a mate of mine. Have a bit of respect - if you want to pick on someone your own size, by all means stand up.”
The verbal exchanges between the two gradually became more cutting, and ultimately became physical when Bellew shoved Haye.
"David has never shown that he is a 12-round fighter who gets stronger in his whole life," Bellew said during the conference. “Boxing is a sport where fighters do not get better as they get older. It has never happened.
"George Foreman? Bernard Hopkins? No. It always ends badly."
But the 37-year-old Haye interrupted: "You seemed to get better as you got older? How old were you when you won a world title? You failed up to that point."
Bellew, who won a world cruiserweight title in 2016 at the age of 33, responded: “I moved weights. That's what happened. Are you the same man who faced Jean-Marc Mormeck? I'm not the same man who faced Ilunga Makabu. I got cleverer as I got older, not better.
"Your acting lessons are not working. Work on your craft. Your fake laugh is the worst I've ever heard. No wonder you can't get a role in [anything]. You said you'd retire at 30, but you're back in the ring.
"You've been undisputed cruiserweight champion, world heavyweight champion, in mega blockbusters, but now you're answering to a little, fat Scouser. And you're telling me that this is your peak?"
Bellew won the first fight 14 months ago in a stunning upset with an 11th-round stoppage; however Haye’s Achilles injury, sustained during the bout, led to Saturday’s rematch.
Any reconciliation between the fighters had been dismissed as insincere by Bellew earlier this week, and it was reflected in the press conference.
“I showed respect, purely for what he did for me. I gave that back by doing this fight," Bellew said. "I didn't need to give David a rematch. He was so smarmy, arrogant and cocky that he didn't put a rematch clause in the contract. No one does that, at this level. Anything past domestic level, you put a rematch clause in.
"He was so egotistical that he thought he just had to turn up. He made a grave mistake because now he's dancing to a different tune and it's not Luther Vandross. You'll listen to Z-Cars as I walk to the ring, and you'll have to wait.
"For the first time in your whole life, it's all on the line. I've done this five or six times - except, I didn't put "Revenge" on my caps, jumpers to make you look bigger, or have Will McKenzie on my team."
After the two stared at each other from their seats, Haye said: "This time won't be controversial, it will be clinical. The plan is to push it after round seven. If he's as tough and durable as they say, we've got a cracking fight. But I'm not sure.
“The shots that were missing will be landing. The first time they didn't land with crispness, it was clubbing, and that's not my style. This time it will be slick - I will give the performance that people expected the first time.
"The first six rounds are about chopping him up and breaking him down. I'm ready for 12 hard rounds. They say you're only as good as your last fight. My last was an 11-round stoppage loss, that doesn't sit right.
“That's the worst finish to a career, and it would put a smudge over my resume. It would feel like I've undone all the great nights I've had, over the years. Everything is on the line - my reputation and my soul."
Bellew hit back by saying there would be no rematch, saying: “We close the curtain on you, David.”
The standing face-off then got physical as Bellew shoved Haye in the throat, before security quickly intervened to prevent any further altercations. The weigh-in for the fight is on Friday.
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