By Gabriel Princewill-
David Haye lost his Saturday match with Tony Bellew because he made the wrong choice, his former trainer, Adam Booth has said. Adam Booth told Sky Sports Network :
“I don’t know how he is physically, but technically he made some big mistakes and let Tony trade with him. You don’t hook with a hooker, if you’re not a hooker, and David is a jab and straight right-hand puncher. He made the wrong choice and paid the ultimate price.”
Haye was tipped to be the favourite to win his grudge rematch with Tony Bellew last weekend. However, he was beaten to the punch by the tactical wiles of Bellew, who stopped him in the fifth round of a sensational fight. Bellew lived up to his confident prediction of stopping Haye in his tracks, and few including believed he would be the eventual winner of a big contest like this against Haye. He was of notably higher pedigree than Bellew, and not even his advancing age owuld have been sufficient reason to convince many boxing experts that Bellew will beat Haye twice in successive fights.
If Booth’s judgement , Haye should never have even been in the first fight is correct, it points to some fundamental presence of something wrong with Haye’s initial decision to box Bellew the first time. Bellew had successfully goaded the londoner into the fight; each fighter collected a cool £5m for the fight. Bellew won with an 11 round knockout, but the rematch, dubbed ‘repeat or revenge, was meant to record a reenge for the history books. Bellew defied all odds to repeat his original conquest.
A jubilant Bellew testified after the fight that he launched the third round counter attack to drop Haye in the third round, after watching several rounds of video recordings featuring great boxers of old. It paid off, and the Liverpulian followed the first knock down in the third round with another three knockdowns between the third round and the fifth round. His victory has sent shock waves throughout the boxing world,as he announces himself as a force to be reckoned with. By his own admission, he is not in the league of Anthony Joshua and Deontey Wilder.
WEIGHT
Haye, came in at 15 stonnes 10 Ibs, lighter than he was in their first match, but may still have been above his natural fighting weight. The former cruiser-weight world champion who made a fortune at heavyweight, started the fight sharply, exerting pressure on Bellew and trying to set up his big bombs. However, Bellew was sharp in his movement, using a very tactical mind in his game to neutralize the ferocity Haye was bringing to the party. Haye’s attack appeared to be working, but Bellew quickly crashed Haye’s hopes of a victorious party.
There were observations of what resembled another slight hindering Archilles Hill injury, but Haye Haye rejected all probes into the suspected injury in order not to appear he was excusing his defeat. If a tactical error was responsible for Haye’s loss.
PRICE
Haye’s former trainer, Adam Booth likely believes Haye paid the price of not having him in the Londoner’s corner. Had Booth still been with Haye, he may have discouraged the making of the fight in the first instance, using his judgement of experience and knowledge of Haye’s private life to make the call. However, Haye likes to call his own shots, and Booth may well have gone with it but advised Haye to employ different tactics. Booth is known to have instructed the tactics used by David Haye in beating 7 ft 2 inches Nicolai Valuev, in winning the WBA heavyweight title in 2008.
Haye successfully defended the title three times before loosing it to Wladimir Klitschko in 2009.
MINDSET
Adam Booth was formerly useful in tailoring Haye’s mood and mindset to an ideal state, leading up to big fights. Haye always came up trumps, except twice- to Carl Thompson in 2004, and Wladimir Klitschko in 2009.Both fighters were world champions at the time, making Bellew the first unheralded boxer to beat Haye.
Bellew is probably an underrated fighter, but he displayed skill and expertise in dispatching of Haye. Booth believes the victory was due to a tactical error on Haye’s part. The circulating view in boxing circles is that Haye is past his time, something Booth implicitly appears to reject. Adam Booth and David Haye were a close team , the pair often attending amateur shows together , reflecting a bond between the pair. However, Haye and Booth eventually parted ways. The former teacher might have been hinting that Haye was not in the right frame of mind in both the rematch and their first fight,
In a statement posted on Haye’s twitter account, the former WBA champion was graceful in defeat. He said:
“We promised the rematch would be another epic battle, and despite not getting the outcome I so desired, it certainly lived up to the hype,” Haye said on Facebook. “Thank you to everyone who packed out The O2 Arena, tuned into Sky Box Office or piled into their local pub to witness it live. The energy in the build-up and, as I stepped into the arena in my hometown was something I will never forget.”
“Tony, you are a brilliant dance partner, you proved many doubters wrong and were without question the deserved winner. Your family, friends and those you were fighting in the memory of, should be incredibly proud of their ‘Bomber.’ Congratulations, Champ.”
Humble words from a humble looser, but we not forget the many exciting fights Haye contributed to the sport, and the entertainment he brought into boxing. Whatever, his next steps, we can only hope he makes the best decision for his future.
