Tony Bellew has faced plenty of world champions in his time and has now named the man who hit him hardest, and it isn’t Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk beat Bellew by KO at cruiserweight back in 2018, largely having tired him out with his front-foot pressure and constant movement across the first eight rounds. It was only his second stoppage loss, the first coming against Adonis Stevenson down at light-heavyweight.
Bellew was also put down by Ilunga Makabu early on in his world title fight at Goodison Park, but rallied and got a stoppage win of his own to become the WBC cruiserweight champion. After defending the belt against BJ Flores, he then had a pair of fights with an injury-prone David Haye, stopping him in both contests in 2017 and 2018.
Speaking to DAZN, Bellew named Haye as the most powerful puncher he had shared a ring with.
“Haye was the one who had the most power. I’m certain on that. Stevenson hit me hard, but I was in there that night without much resistance because of the weight struggles. He could certainly punch. I knew Haye’s power was going to be a problem from when I sparred him, and he really could bang. There’ll be many fighters who fought Haye who’ll tell you all about how much power he had.”
Haye retired after his back-to-back losses to Bellew, but remains one of Britain’s best, having been a unified cruiserweight champion turned heavyweight belt holder who beat the 7ft giant Nikolai Valuev to win the WBA strap back in 2009. From 28 wins, ‘The Hayemaker’ scored 26 knockouts.
