The 36 year-old, who is a two-weight world title holder at both cruiserweight and heavyweight, meets WBC 200 pound champion Bellew at the higher limit on March 4 in London after months of bad blood between the pair.
Bellew is a huge underdog against a rejuvenated Haye, who has now questioned the Liverpool man’s pre-fight gameplan of getting through the first four rounds before turning the tide in his favour.
“It’s a bit of a stupid one. It’s like saying my gameplan to beat Usain Bolt in a race is to stay in front of him for the first 80 metres and then just coast the last twenty,” Haye exclusively told World Boxing News.
“It’s easy saying something like that, but you’ve actually got to get in front of him for 80 metres and that’s the thing. It’s easy saying you’ll get to the fourth round, but how are you going to get to the fourth round? – He hasn’t talked about that bit.
“He’s either going to have a tear-up, in which case he’ll walk on to one quick, or he’s going to run like a b**** and he might last a few rounds scurrying around like a terrified rat. But he’s going to get caught, and once I catch him, that’s it – it’s over.”
The arch-rivals went face-to-face at a recent taping of Sky Sports’ ‘The Gloves are Off’ series and Haye was asked what he thought of Bellew’s demeanor prior to their next meeting at the UK press conference in a few weeks’ time.
“He just looked his usual dopey self. He had this really stupid look on his face and I just can’t wait to put it to sleep,” he said.
Two victories on the back of a long lay-off have put Haye back in the title picture with most of the organisations as fights against the likes of Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker, both current world title holders, move closer to reality.
A win over Bellew may not do anything to enhance Haye’s reputation, but will clearly give the Londoner a personal satisfaction before he pursues a massive Wembley clash with Joshua over the summer.
