Haye vs Bellew Slug It Out In London

Haye vs Bellew Slug It Out In London – London’s O2 Arena played host to Eddie Hearn and his Matchroom Boxing as Britain’s biggest promoter delivered an eight fight card that saw the heavyweight main event air on the SKY Box Office service.

The war of words between David Haye and Tony Bellew finally came to a head this past Saturday night when the two men met in the ring. For months, the war of words had simmered on boil as the two men went back and forth building the fight up. Haye, a former world champion who mounted a comeback last year after a three year layoff, stands accused of looking for a shortcut back to the world title scene by Bellew, who is the WBC’s world cruiserweight champion. By most accounts, Bellew faced a tall order trying to end Haye’s return in the ring, but the Liverpool fighter was more than willing to give it a shot.

The first couple of rounds saw the two men miss a lot of huge punches as both men appeared to want to go home early. Haye was looking to end the fight with one big punch while Bellew settled in to wear Haye out. Slowly but surely Bellew’s confidence continued to grow as Haye missed time and again. When Haye landed, Bellew would answer and by the end of round five Haye was beginning to show the signs of fatigue that Bellew had predicted.

Early in round six, Haye slipped and appeared to blow out his knee (perhaps a ruptured Achilles tendon). He fought on bravely, but from this point on his chances rested on landing a sucker punch and Bellew wouldn’t cooperate. Haye went to the canvas before the round was over, likely a 10-8 round for Bellew.

Round seven was a big round for Bellew and it ended with Haye stumbling back to his corner gasping for air. Round eight saw Bellew comfortably in control while Haye resorted to dropping his arms and taunting his opponent. Haye’s offense was nearly non-existent at this point. Haye’s corner bandaged his damaged leg before round ten.

The end came in the eleventh as Bellew caught Haye with a flurry that sent the Hayemaker through the ring ropes. Haye was tired but he moved quickly to re-enter the ring only to see his corner throw in the towel.

Right before the main event, Olympian Katie Taylor faced Monica Gentili in her third professional fight. Taylor is already at the forefront of British women’s boxing and fights under a lot of scrutiny and her positioning on the card was meant to get eyes on her fight. Taylor ran into a tougher than expected opponent as Gentili never stopped coming forward and trying to answer. Taylor was content to land punches and by rounds three, four and five she was letting go with hard shots. Gentili, for all her toughness, withered and fell under a flurry just as the referee stepped in to end it in the fifth.

Former two weight class world champion Paulie Malignaggi returned for a second fight in the U.K. This time, Malignaggi was facing 23-year-old Sam Eggington for the Brit’s WBC International title at welterweight. Eggington used his height and length wisely against Malignaggi, and the thirteen year age advantage made Eggington the fresher man, Malignaggi was not short on guts however as he boxed his way into the middle rounds. Round six ended with a Malignaggi flurry where he landed several unanswered shots to Eggington as the round came to an end. In the eighth round Eggington landed a body shot that sent Malignaggi down for the count to end the fight.

WBC Silver champion at 140 pounds Ohara Davies defended his belt against veteran Derry Mathews. The veteran Mathews was looking to make one last run at the top but it was not to be against the younger, more athletic Davies. Davies started to trap Mathews against the ropes in round two and by round three he loosened up and started to land on Mathews, who saw the ref step in to save him from further punishment.

Heavyweight workhorse David Allen is now 11-2-1 after he stopped David Howe in the second round of their six round bout. The bout was Allen’s second in the last week as he tries to put a two fight losing streak behind him. Howe was tall and boxed well at a distance but once Allen started to land his big punches Howe’s entire game fell apart. The fight ended with the referee counting over Howe as he lay on the canvas.

Haye vs Bellew Slug It Out In London

Saturday, March 5th, 2017 – O2 Arena, London, U.K.

Heavy 12 RDS: Tony Bellew def David Haye via corner throws in towel in RD 11 @2:16.
147 LBS 12 RDS: Sam Eggington def Paul Malignaggi def via KO in RD 8 @1:50.
140 LBS 12 RDS: Ohara Davies  def Derry Mathews via TKO in RD 3 @2:55.
130 LBS 10 RDS: Lee Selby def Andoni Gago via TKO in RD 9 @0:41.
154 LBS 10 RDS: Ted Cheeseman def Jack Sellars via PTS (78-74)
HVY 6 RDS: David Allen def David Howe by KO in RD 2.
135 LBS 6×2 RDS: Katie Taylor def Monica Gentili via TKO in RD 5 @1:31.
200 LBS 4 RDS:  Jake Bonalie def Craig Glover via PTS (39-38) 

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