Tony Bellew, the current WBC cruiserweight champion, has taken exception to the recent comments made about him by David Haye, with whom he is fighting the first heavyweight bout of his career at the O2 Arena in London on March 4.

After returning to Britain last week, the former WBA heavyweight champion Haye had belittled Bellew in an interview to Sky Sports News HQ, saying: “I don't know what he is going to do, I'm looking forward to seeing, I hope he does bring his A-game.

"I hope he does do something I'm not expecting, because if he doesn't, if the usual Tony Bellew turns up, it's going to be pretty brutal, pretty fast. It's going to be very bad for his health.”

Haye also took a dig at his opponent by saying: “He doesn't live the life. He says he does, he talks it, but look at his body and you can see you have obviously been eating something you shouldn't.

"He obviously wasn't training as hard as he should have been. If I didn't train and I just ate junk food all day long, I would have the same body as he would, that's plain and simple."

Not to be outdone in the pre-bout verbal exchange, Bellew has hit back, calling him a disgrace to the sport.

The Liverpudlian said: “He's a disgrace. It's not the way we want our sport to be perceived. We're not in the dark ages… He's just an idiot, he doesn't think before he speaks.

"I'm trying to give it a good image. I'm not the best one to do it, because I've done some stupid things. I only speak the truth. He's just an idiot, he doesn't think before he speaks.

"He carries the sport in a bad way. I'm not saying I'm a saint by any stretch of the imagination, because I'm not, but I'm nowhere near this clown's level. He is just a disgrace to boxing."

He also agreed to give Haye a rematch if the former heavyweight champion lost.

“If he loses to me, it will be the worst thing that has ever happened to him, but like I say, I'll give him the rematch.

“If he loses to me, his rep and his ego have just been eaten, and I'll enjoy it when I put salt and pepper on them after I've finished."

The two boxers have recently been involved in a few fracases with each other.

Back in November, they came head-to-head in the press conference where the March 4 bout was announced. Then again, they had to be separated by security staff during the filming of Sky Sports’ preview show for the bout - “The Gloves are Off”.

However, the bad blood between the two Brits started when Bellew taunted Haye after his win over BJ Flores in October, where he called Haye “Sideshow Bob” and accused him of “conning the British public”.

Whether the Hayemaker, as Haye likes to call himself, can establish his supremacy, or whether the cruiserweight champion can win his first foray in to heavyweight territory, the March 4 bout promises a lot of punches being thrown and not just verbal ones.