The David Haye vs. Tony Bellew grudge match is only days away.
Take a look at the infographics produced by Sportingbet.com as an alternative analysis to the all-British fight.
Mutual Enemies
Both Haye and Bellew have an excellent record against other British boxers, having only tasted defeat once to a fellow countryman. In addition to both winning the vast majority of these fights – Haye 90% and Bellew 92% – they have registered plenty of knockouts in the process.
Six of Haye’s nine British opponents were stopped before the fight had run its course and the same was true for eight of Bellew’s 12, so if one of them gains the upper hand at the O2 Arena then it is unlikely that this encounter will need to be decided by the judges.
Ring Rust
Where Bellew may have more of an edge than the odds suggest is in the amount of recent fight experience he has compared to Haye.
Not only has the Southerner gone over twice as long since his last fight – 41 weeks to Bellew’s 20 – but he has stepped into the ring just three times in the last five years, while his Northern opponent has done so on 14 separate occasions.
While both men made short work of their last two challengers, Haye’s 2011 defeat to Wladimir Klitschko was only four fights ago, suggesting that Bellew has far more recent inspiration to draw upon.
What Happens in London…
Whether or not Haye has any ring rust to shake off, the location of the fight – only six miles down the Thames from where he grew up – could reinvigorate the former heavyweight champion.
Both boxers have performed well in London and are undefeated at the O2 Arena, but the Southerner has delivered far more knockouts, stopping 11 of the 13 opponents he has beaten in the capital compared to Bellew’s far more modest two from six.
North vs. South
This fight represents a continuation of a North versus South boxing rivalry in which recent history looks to give Haye the upper hand, but when we dig into the numbers the reality is a little more complex.
Southern heavyweights have dominated all-British title fights in the last decade – winning 16 of the 20 contests for a major belt in this period – but 14 of these victories have come against fellow Southerners. The relatively rare presence of a Northern fighter in the ring has resulted in four wins out of a possible six against a Southern opponent, so there is plenty of precedent for Bellew to upset the odds here.
