Overlooking the Thames in the executive suite of the plush Park Plaza hotel on London’s Embankment, David Haye did not look like a boxer facing the end, though he accepts the inevitability of that outcome should he fall a second time to Tony Bellew at the 02 Arena on Saturday. If his demeanour could talk it would be saying: “Don’t worry fellas, I’ve got this. Trust me, I have.” Dressed in black training gear, and moving easily among the assembled media, Haye looked nearer 27 than the 37 years he has clocked. With new trainer Ismael Salas working alongside conditioning coach Ruban Tabares and free of any health concerns Haye was convincing in both appearance and manner. The disdain for Bellew remains but there was no toxic phrasing, no nuclear antipathy, just plain speaking, which in its own menacing way represents more jeopardy for his opponent. Haye has stripped this contest to its essentials. If, indeed, he is as fit and healthy as he feels, and if the pedigree that saw him win world silver as an amatuer in Belfast in 2002, unify the cruiserweight belts and claim the WBA heavyweight title is undiminished, then it really ought not to matter what Bellew brings. A triumphant conclusion will follow from that impeccably-credentialed premise.

Show Me The Proof

You will note the ‘if’ in all of this. Bellew acknowledges Haye’s talent and his achievements but believes the potency has left him. The proof, he said, was laid bare in the first fight, which Bellew won in the 11th round. Haye was, of course, crippled by a ruptured Achilles by then. Even before the injury made itself known, Haye’s timing was off. He was seeking the one-punch finish. Bellew was too good, too smart to fall for that, and began to make inroads with Haye still on both feet. Back to the Park Plaza and what became something of a Haye confessional. “Everything is working as well as it has done since the [Dereck] Chisora fight [2012]. The injuries have come from pushing hard. It’s about doing the right kind of pushing. In the past I would be beasting it every day. That’s ok when you are 27 but when you are 37 you need to be a bit more economical.” Following the restoration of the old Tabares training regime using the fitness drills that took him to victory against Nikolai Valuev and John Ruiz and with Salas adding his Cuban insights on the pads Haye claims to have rediscovered his fighting rhythm. “I was missing by a foot on some occasions. My timing was completely out. I assumed in the heat of battle at some stage in 12 rounds I’m going to clip him. I suspected my timing would not be at its very best but even at my worst I would still have been landing. But it was nowhere near.