David Haye and Tony Bellew came face to face for the first time this afternoon before the pair meet in a heavyweight bout on March 4th.
Haye, the former WBA heavyweight champion, comes off the back of two rather straightforward wins in his last two fights since his return to boxing and has labelled this the 'first big fight the fans are getting excited about'.
Bellew defeated BJ Flores to retain his WBC cruiserweight title and immediately sought climbed out of the ring and to confront David Haye.
"I'm a little fattie and I'm crap," he said this afternoon. "I'm a little fat cruiserweight so we'll see on the night, won't we? We'll see who's the elite athlete and who's good at doing what he does."
The Liverpool native admits he wasn't impressed by the Hayes latest bouts labelling them a "comedy".
"Let's stop calling those two last fights of his fights. They weren't fights. They were exhibitions. They were something I can't even put into words.
"It's only right that [the fights] were on a comedy channel, because it was a comedy that was taking place. He wouldn't have employed those guys to spar with him."
The 33-year-old went on to say that if the bout was dragged into what he described as a "dog-fight", Haye would struggle to match him. Much of the compliments paid to Bellew were to his 'braveness' and 'heart'.
"I've done what I've done, while he's been missing and partying away in nightclubs, I've been fighting. I've stayed in the gym. I've done what I've wanted to do. I've wanted to be a boxer. The difference between me and him is I want to fight. I enjoy fighting. He hates it. He hates fighting. But he has to fight.
Of the stipulations he said Haye insisted to be included in his contract, he said: "I'm surprised he didn't ask me to carry him to the eat in the press conference, because there's that many demands and stipulations... Do you want me to do you hair as well?"
David Haye (left) and Tony Bellew clash during their press conference this afternoon. Image: Adam Davy / PA Wire/PA Images
Haye responded in kind, but for a large chunk of his own monologue, took aim at promoter Eddie Hearn.
"I've been out for a while but I've been watching social media and Youtube and all I've seen is Eddie Hearn. This fight gives me the opportunity to shut his big mouth," he said.
"When it came to negotiations, the only thing Eddie has put his foot down on, the only thing he really wanted was that it was 'Eddie Hearn and Hayemaker Promotions Presents...'.
"I can't remember your Dad, Barry, sticking his face in all those situations. I tried to watch a Katie Taylor interview the other day, really interested to see how she was in her first fight. She starts talking and you barge her out of the way. 'Ah here we go, apples and pears...' Clowning around. It's not the Eddie Hearn show."
He also acknowledged that his last two fights weren't comparable to the task he faces in Bellew.
"I've had big fights, the last couple where the opponents weren't really known, but they were still big fights. Sell-out crowd. Good numbers, record-breaking numbers on TV. But this is the first big fight that the fans are getting excited about."
Haye replied to the nightclub jab saying: "I could go clubbing every single night from now to the fight, get smashed every night and still knock you out. I could turn up drunk off my head.
"You're getting knocked out, destroyed... Even if you do hit me nothing is going to happen, you powder-puff-punching chump.
"I'll end the fight when I want to. If I want to punish you for three or four rounds then I'll do that. If I want to take you out in 30 seconds, I'll do that."
Handbags at the #HayeBellew presser!
Who's your money on? pic.twitter.com/OYg3aDAw8q
— RedMonkeyCollective (@WeAreRedMonkey) November 30, 2016
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