BoxRec

‘The game plan was to stay against the ropes and use them as my right leg,’

‘I couldn’t be in the centre of the ring because I only had one leg. I tried to slip and slide his punches and counter-punch.’

‘I had more success as the fight went on; I was playing possum and trying to show him I was hurt.’

‘I couldn’t push off my leg and I couldn’t punch at range so I had to get him to come into range so I could counter him.’

‘It was a dangerous strategy but the only one I could implement to try to win the fight; I had to land one big shot, I wasn’t going to win on points with the cards I was dealt.’

‘I still believed I was going to knock him out when he dropped me again. I remember thinking that as soon as I got up, I was going to hit him with an uppercut.’

‘As the referee’s count was at seven, I was trying to get up, and doing so before he got to 10 was really tough.’

‘I was outside the ring but managed to get up at nine and thought, ‘you’re going to run at me and I’m going to hit you with an uppercut’ and as I thought that, the towel came in and I just thought, ‘s***’.’

‘It was a horrible feeling. I thought, ‘why, I’m OK; I can still knock him out!’ But Shane McGuigan has my best interests at heart,’

‘I work with him because I trust him and his opinion means a lot to me.’

‘If he saw something that I didn’t see – and sometimes the fighter is the last to see – I respect his opinion enough to leave it at that.’

‘I’m not going to beat myself up thinking I could have knocked him out in the 11th or 12th round.’

‘He gave me five rounds to do it and I couldn’t so the chances of me doing it in the next round and a half were slim.’

Eddie Hearn tweeted..

For those asking, as per the BBBofC judges scorecards at time of stoppage were 96-93,96-93,96-93 Bellew #BellewHaye
— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) March 5, 2017

I thought the towel was a bit premature too. Haye wasn't dazed or caught flush by anything Bellew threw. Yes we know about the ankle injury but the time to stop it on that was Rnd 6.

DazDiCanio wrote:I thought the towel was a bit premature too. Haye wasn't dazed or caught flush by anything Bellew threw. Yes we know about the ankle injury but the time to stop it on that was Rnd 6.

Same here, if he allowed him to go 5 rounds, surely one more round would not have hurt. He could have lost a unanimous decision, scoring two 10-8 rounds.. assuming Haye not get KD in round 12.. 116-110

Ruthless-RKO wrote:

DazDiCanio wrote:I thought the towel was a bit premature too. Haye wasn't dazed or caught flush by anything Bellew threw. Yes we know about the ankle injury but the time to stop it on that was Rnd 6.

Same here, if he allowed him to go 5 rounds, surely one more round would not have hurt. He could have lost a unanimous decision, scoring two 10-8 rounds.. assuming Haye not get KD in round 12.. 116-110

A loss is a loss, since Haye had already lost the fight at that point.

Carrying on would have made the injury worse and he would have also needlessly took punishment, which is utterly pointless when there was no possibility to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Enlightened-One wrote:

Ruthless-RKO wrote:

DazDiCanio wrote:I thought the towel was a bit premature too. Haye wasn't dazed or caught flush by anything Bellew threw. Yes we know about the ankle injury but the time to stop it on that was Rnd 6.

Same here, if he allowed him to go 5 rounds, surely one more round would not have hurt. He could have lost a unanimous decision, scoring two 10-8 rounds.. assuming Haye not get KD in round 12.. 116-110

A loss is a loss, since Haye had already lost the fight at that point.

Carrying on would have made the injury worse and he would have also needlessly took punishment, which is utterly pointless when there was no possibility to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

It's boxing, not picking strawberries mate. He wasn't hurt, he could still protect himself. Bellew was absolutely gassed.

DazDiCanio wrote:

Enlightened-One wrote:

Ruthless-RKO wrote:
Same here, if he allowed him to go 5 rounds, surely one more round would not have hurt. He could have lost a unanimous decision, scoring two 10-8 rounds.. assuming Haye not get KD in round 12.. 116-110

A loss is a loss, since Haye had already lost the fight at that point.

Carrying on would have made the injury worse and he would have also needlessly took punishment, which is utterly pointless when there was no possibility to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

It's boxing, not picking strawberries mate. He wasn't hurt, he could still protect himself. Bellew was absolutely gassed.

Haye only said he wanted to land an uppercut to KO him, i believe that could have still been a possibility.

Ruthless-RKO wrote:

DazDiCanio wrote:

Enlightened-One wrote: A loss is a loss, since Haye had already lost the fight at that point.

Carrying on would have made the injury worse and he would have also needlessly took punishment, which is utterly pointless when there was no possibility to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

It's boxing, not picking strawberries mate. He wasn't hurt, he could still protect himself. Bellew was absolutely gassed.

Haye only said he wanted to land an uppercut to KO him, i believe that could have still been a possibility.

From what I saw, David Haye’s injury affected his balance and mobility. He would have been unable to gain any real leverage or power behind his shots. So the likelihood of him being physically capable of scoring a one-punch KO would have been incredibly remote.

Have you guys ever tried to throw a hook without bending the knees, rotating your hips, pivoting on your lead foot and twisting your ankles, coupled with shifting your entire body weight from one leg to the other?

If you’ve got an injury like David Haye’s, how you do counter your opponents’ punches if you’re struggling to bob and weave underneath their jab or straight?

You guys probably know far more about the practicalities of boxing than I do, but from personal experience, it’s almost impossible for me to put any real force behind my punches if I’m struggling to retain my balance in order to move and position the bottom half of my body correctly whilst I'm throwing the shot.

If David was incapable of scoring a one-punch KO, then it would have been futile for him to continue.

"A-rum puncheees" as Jim Watt would say.