David Haye has been preparing himself for his upcoming rematch against Tony Bellew.

The pair met back in March where the latter came out on top with an 11th round victory after Haye’s camp - who saw their man was struggling with an Achilles injury - threw in the towel.

However, a rematch is set to take to the ring on the 17th December despite rumours of a fresh injury to Haye.

Amidst his preparations, Haye has revealed an old and unusual technique he used to practice ahead of his fights.

Whilst speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, the heavyweight admitted that he used to practice getting knocked down before his fights in order to prepare himself for if it happened in the ring.

“I used to do roly polys in the gym to get really dizzy and then do my pad work with at the booth and it worked,” Haye said.

“I remember getting knocked down and thinking ‘ok practice this’, you know I knew this was a chance, I know I lost a round 10-8.

“Just kill the clock to the end of the round, regroup and come back in round five.

His change of approach to his fights came after he was knocked down by Lolenga Mock back in 2003 during his seventh professional fight:

“All I remember was just my head spinning.”

Haye recalled that he felt that he had to replicate the feeling of that hit so it wouldn’t become an ‘alien’ to him if it was to happen again:

“I need to replicate this feeling so when it happens again, it’s not alien to me.

“So I did roly polys, spinning around.”

Haye then went on to say how he, like any boxer, finds the toughest part of being knocked down is getting back up but revealed his strategy to avoid being beaten by the referee's count.

He continued: “I needed to regroup, one knee on the floor, when the count gets to seven, eight, stand up and then keep going.

“I practiced it and it worked, it really really worked.”

The best example of Haye's tactics came ten years ago when he beat Jean-Marc Mormeck after being knocked down in the fourth round.

Of course, the 37-year-old will be hoping he will not be requiring to use that technique when he locks horns with Bellew for a second time.