FIGHT fan Ross Francis (@ross11ross) shares his betting thoughts on Saturday's Tony Bellew – David Haye fight.
Tony Bellew v David Haye | Saturday 23:00 | Sky Box Office
This Saturday sees a host of huge fights take place both in the boxing and MMA worlds. With fight cards in London, NYC (Garcia vs Thurman) and UFC 209, fight fans have a great night ahead of them.
The action kicks off at London’s O2 Arena for a Matchroom show headlined by David ‘The Hayemaker’ Haye vs current WBC Cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew.
Genuine Dislike
This grudge match has seemingly been a long time coming with Bellew mentioning Haye’s name since establishing himself as the best Cruiserweight in the UK and then upsetting the dangerous Illunga Makabu to secure that WBC belt during Haye’s hiatus from the sport.
Both men have a real dislike for each other with blows already exchanged at the first press conference and some unsavoury threats and barbs fired between the two fighters in the build-up.
The fight takes place at heavyweight which, although initially would point to an advantage for Haye (who has been fighting at heavyweight since 2008), there isn’t much to split the men in height and weight.
KO fighters
Both have devastating KO power in both hands, Haye with 26 KO wins in his 30 fight career (28-2-0) vs Bellew’s 18 (28-2-1).
This would naturally lead towards the likelihood of the fight being closed out early and I firmly believe this will be the case which makes the 21/10 available with William Hill for the fight to finish in Rounds 1-3 and 11/5 with Ladbrokes for Rounds 4-6 appealing (8/13 for rounds 1-6).
Haye has experience in these domestic grudge matches and his record makes for worrying reading if you are a Bellew fan. Enzo Maccarinelli, Audley Harrison and Dereck Chisora all stopped within five rounds and I cannot see how this fight does not follow the same path.
Bellew vulnerable
Yes, Bellew is now a genuine world champion after his Makabu win but his record against the other world class operators on his record (Nathan Cleverly, Isaac Chilemba and Adonis Stevenson) doesn’t impress with two losses, two tight split decision wins and a draw.
Bellew is also there to be hit, being hurt in numerous fights and knocked down by the likes of Ovil McKenzie in the past. Haye hits much harder and faster than this level of opponent and I believe it will only be a matter of time before he connects.
I see the red mist descending over Bellew, coming out slinging from the opening bell and this will play into the hands of the much slicker Haye.
I see Haye winning by stoppage and the 1/3 for that reflects the bookies being in agreement. Clearly not much value there so I will be on the 12/5 for Haye in rounds 1-3 with a safety net of Haye rounds 1-6 at 5/6.
Best Bets
Tony Bellew v David Haye – David Haye to win in Rounds 1-3 (12/5 Ladbrokes)
Tony Bellew v David Haye – David Haye to win in Rounds 1-6 (5/6 Ladbrokes)
