Tony Bellew has admitted that his biggest boxing disappointment of 2017 was the cancellation of his proposed heavyweight bout with arch nemesis David Haye. 

The two fighters were due to meet in the ring on December 17, however, a month before the scheduled fight, Haye pulled out of the highly-anticipated event, citing a freak arm injury after he fell down the stairs.

Speaking to Metro, Bellew was frustrated at Haye's decision to pull out, and when quizzed on his biggest disappointment, the Liverpudlian said: "That gobs***e pulling out."

In his official statement that confirmed his withdrawal from the fight, Haye hoped that a rescheduled bout could be finalised for a date in May next year. 

At the time, Bellew didn't hold back on his upset following Haye's decision, and he contributed his own statement to partner his rival's. 

“It's heart-breaking, it's devastating," Bellew said.

“To get the phone call that David is out was a shattering blow. I've spent thousands of pounds on a camp. I've been in camp for 10 weeks of a 14-week camp. My trainer, Dave Coldwell, has spent half that time coming to Liverpool to help me get over the personal problems that I've had.

“This is the fourth fight that David has pulled out of in his last eight scheduled bouts. Once against Wladimir Klitschko, two against Tyson Fury and now me. He has torn some serious muscle groups in his body. Both biceps, his Achilles, his hamstring - what is going to go next?

“I'm not too sure I can wait around for this to happen again.”

Looking ahead to 2018 and what it may bring for his profession, the 35-year-old believes that 23-year-old Josh Kelly, a welterweight from Sunderland, will be the young British boxer to watch next year.

Kelly has had five fights, winning four of them, since competing at the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio.

Bellew said: "The great thing for British fighting is there are so many to choose from at the moment.

"I’ll go with Josh Kelly, I think he’ll get matched with tougher opponents moving forward and that will make for exciting fights. 2018 will be a big year for him.

"On a world scale, there’s only two people that will be able to really light up the boxing world. One is Vasyl Lomachenko and the other is Terence Crawford."