Tony Bellew was in buoyant mood at Tuesday's press conference for his highly anticipated rematch with David Haye, seemingly confident of a positive result, both in the ring and financially from the May 5 bout.

However, his reasons for the optimism dates back far further than some may expect.

As a 22-year-old amateur, Bellew (29-2-1, 19 KOs) sparred Haye (28-3, 26 KOs) back in 2005 as part of the Londoner's preparations for his scheduled fight against Mark Hobson for the British and Commonwealth cruiserweight championships in July 2005.

Although he was ultimately forced to withdraw from the Hobson bout with a hamstring injury, the training camp did see Haye afforded a taste of the toughness of his future rival.

“He didn’t know who I was, but he got punched all over the place by me and (former British heavyweight champion) David Price," Bellew told reporters. 

“He was doing four-minute rounds, two minutes with me and then two with Price.

"We got paid £100 to spar and would get a bonus of £500 or £1,000 if we dropped him.

“In the first round, with his first punch, he hit me with a right uppercut and I stood there and my back leg just kicked up like a donkey’s...I’ve never been hit so hard in my life," added Bellew, who then recalled Haye's reaction when he was unable to floor his younger sparring partner.

"I told him it was a good shot and the look on his face when I was still standing...He was gutted...Ever since that sparring session, I knew I was going to fight David Haye."

The Liverpudlian may only have made £100 for the spar back in 2005, but reportedly made around £3 million when he halted a badly injured Haye in the 11th round of their first (professional) meeting in March last year.

Bellew admitted that he had accepted a lesser split of the purse in order to get Haye to agree to the fight, but confirmed that things would be different when it comes to the rematch.

"He should be massively grateful for this chance," argued Bellew.

"I wanted a bigger percentage because I had my pants pulled down last time. I wouldn’t have made as much in other fights, but I’ve got enough.

"I’ve invested all the money from our last fight so that it works for me and my children. Financially it’s not an issue for me anymore but this will be the biggest pay day of my career."

The pairs' previous bout generated 690,000 pay-per-view sales, figures which are usually only seen in modern times by Anthony Joshua.

It would be no surprise to see Bellew vs Haye 2 beat those numbers and make the rematch even more lucrative for Bellew.

In any case, the millions that Bellew seems sure to bank in early May are a far cry from the paltry £100 he received as a fresh-faced amateur when he first encountered David Haye.