UNDERDOG BELLEW DOES THE UNTHINKABLE

Underdog Bellew Does The Unthinkable
Matchroom Boxing Promotions &
Hayemaker Promotions
4^th March 2017
O2 Arena, London, England

Over the years there has been some British fights were the fighters disliked each other, but from time to time we see a match up were the fighters literally hate each other and cant stand the sight of each other, this fight falls into the latter. It was billed as North Vs South, Battler Vs Prima Dona, Fat Boy Vs Athlete, both fighters totally believed what they were saying pre fight, David Haye was predicating an early stoppage and Bellew was preaching that if he can get Haye into the later rounds he will be ripe for picking off but no one could have predicated what was going to unfold as it was one of the strangest fights I have ever seen and likely ever to see.

The fight started at a frantic pace with both fighters looking a wee bit nervous and not wanting to over commit in fear off getting caught, Haye was stalking Bellew around the ring and when he was getting in range and letting his hands go while Bellew was trying to counter punch him when he left himself open, Haye knows if he landed with one of his bombs it would confirm what he predicated pre fight, but Bellew was on his toes and initiated the game plan he had set up with Dave Coldwell which was using his feet to control the fight, this in turn started to frustrate Haye who started to lunge at Bellew.

It was a bit off cat and mouse with Haye walking Bellew down and looking to land his power shot of the right hand, as this wasn’t having any success he went back to basics and started working behind his jab which he hoped would throw Bellew off the scent off the his main weapon, he managed to find an opening and land a flush clean punch on Bellews chin but the cruiserweight champion smiled and shook his head informing the Hayemaker that it didn’t hurt him. Haye changes things up and starts trying to counter punch Bellew but as these early rounds pass Bellew is growing in confidence and he is staying allusive and just out of the range of Hayes shots, at times it is a very tactical fight with a lot of posturing, bobbing and weaving that makes the fight feel more like a tactical chess match.

With all the setups each fighter was trying to do Haye managed to seize on a opportunity and caught Bellew with a combination of punches that landed flush, but Bellew ate the punches and escaped but Haye came back with more shots but again the big Scousers chin held firm. In the fifth round Bellew comes out with a sense of urgency as he upped his work rate and has some initial success but the punches appeared to have little impact on David Haye, Haye starts working the body of Bellew with the hope of slowing him down as he now must know this fight isn’t going to end early.

Both fighters let their hands go near the end of the fifth round but it is Bellew who appears to come off the worst as he sustains a small cut on the bridge of his nose but the punches that are landing clean from both fighters are not having an effect on either of them.
The sixth round is when the contest took a crazy turn off events and changed the whole dynamics of the fight. The fighters had a close exchange and when they broke apart Haye backed off from Bellew and it appeared that his foot jarred and there was obviously something wrong with him which Bellew noticed straight away as Haye had trouble standing, Bellew swarmed him looking to capitalise on the situation and with Haye knowing something was wrong, tried to knock Bellew out by throwing haymakers but they were wild and not controlled punches so nothing was connecting.

Haye falls to the ground on two separate occasions as he struggles to keep his balance but the referee states it was not a knock down, with Haye trying to use the ropes to help him balance he lunges at Bellew and hits the ground again but the referee marks this down as a knockdown. Haye takes the eight count but he is limping around the ring and no one thinks he will be able to continue in the fight.

Haye was obviously hurt and he could bearly stand up, he decided to stand near his corner throwing big looping hooks hoping one will land, Bellew was also swinging wildly as well but he looks tired and both fighters are close to punching themselves out, both fighters now look exhausted. Haye was being caught at will but he is still standing and throwing punches back at Bellew.

As the later rounds go by Haye has no power left in his shots, he was still swinging punches looking for one punch to end the fight but it turned the fight into a scrappy contest, but Bellew is catching Haye at will but both fighters started to slow right down and it is turning into the strangest fight I think I have ever seen.

Haye is more mobile than he has been from the 6th round but he is still being caught by Bellew as he has dominated the rounds since the injury, he is making Haye take more risks as he struggles to walk around the ring but he knows he needs a knockout to win this fight. Bellew must be thinking how is haye still in this fight as no matter what he hits him with he keeps coming back. Haye lands a huge right hand but bellew walks through it, on fumes Bellew puts more pressure on Haye and catches him with solid punches that knocks Haye through the ropes, Haye managed to get back into the ring at the count of 9 but Shane McGuigan decided it was time to end the fight in the 11th round.
Haye showed great heart to last the rounds he did when Bellew was being clinical with nearly every punch.

Both men showed a great level of respect to each other after the fight and all the strong words before the fight appear to have been forgotten.

INCREDIBLE SCENES!!! BELLEW BEATS DAVID HAYE AS HAYE COULD NOT CONTINUE!!!! AMAZING STUFF!!! #HayeBellew https://t.co/jmshxKDg3U

— Strictly Boxing Fans (@BoxingBritain1) March 4, 2017

Ohara Davies came into this fight feeling like he needed to prove something, the opening two rounds were a cagy affair with Davies looking to use his fast hands to counter punch his way to victory. It was hard to find a winner in the opening round but in the second Davies was starting to catch Matthews with some good single shots and he was constantly looking to unleash his weapon which is his right hand.

Matthews tried to use all of his experience to get the better of Davies but in the third round he was caught with a powerful overhand right which shook Matthews to his boots, then he followed up straight away with an uppercut and a left right combination of shots which sent Matthews back to the ropes and if the ropes were not there Mathews might have went down, Davies comes in an lets go a few more combinations and Matthews takes a knee.

https://twitter.com/theUstance/status/838122484889182208

Davies can smell blood now and comes flying in wildly letting his hands go, he catches Derry again and sends him down to the canvas on a knee for the second time, Matthews looks worryingly to his corner and when he gets up again it doesn’t take much more punishment for the referee to jump in and wave the contest off.

@OharaDavies was too young and too strong for the veteran Mathews #matchroom pic.twitter.com/FccovRXYRv

— TheUnorthodoxStance (@theUstance) March 4, 2017

After fifty two fights maybe it is time for Derry to retire from the sport and he confirms this himself while getting a bit emotional in the post fight interview. Matthews is a great ambassador for the sport of Boxing and he has been a credit to the sport. The bigger question from the result is where does Ohara Davies go after this fight, it was a much better performance and it definitely made him look like he belongs in bigger fights within the division but who is out there for him? There is potential fights against the likes of Josh Taylor, Robbie Davies Jnr, Stephen Ormond to name a few but realistically there is plenty of options for Eddie Hearn to work with in the UK and Ireland scene but there is also plenty of options further afield.

Other fighters appearing on the card are as follows:

Katie Taylor bt Monica Gentili (5th Round Stoppage)
Lightweight Fight