When it comes to hammering out deals in the fight game, there’s typically an A side and a B side.
One fighter usually has the bigger name and has more to lose in defeat than their lesser known opponent, who can steal all the A side’s thunder with a victory.
Floyd Mayweather has spoken at length this year of his belief that he is the A side in the negotiations with Conor McGregor while ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is likely the A side in his highly anticipated clash with Gennady Golovkin.
David Haye was the A side ahead of his heavyweight grudge match with Tony Bellew back in March, given the fact that ‘The Hayemaker’ was a genuine superstar of the ring.
Bellew upset the odds to take Haye out in the O2 Arena, stopping him in the 11th round after the Londoner picked up an Achilles injury midway through the fight.
"I’ve never had that nemesis, and maybe I've found it" https://t.co/1UPWSlpDK7
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) March 8, 2017
All signs are pointing towards a rematch, considering the ongoing bad blood between the Brits, and Bellew is up for running it back against his fiercest rival on one condition.
“If it’s a rematch then so be it,” Bellew told Boxing News Online. “We’ve had talks recently and his comment was I will not fight him, I haven’t got the bottle to face him again.
“I’ll tell you right now, you’re the first guys who have got the interview, I will fight him as long our deal is reversed.
“So he’s got to take the deal that I took for the first fight. That is the only way the fight’s happening. There is no debating. There are no negotiations to take place.
“He’s got to flip the deal round and it’s as simple as that. That is the only way the rematch is happening and if he doesn’t then so be, I’ll fight Joseph Parker for the heavyweight championship of the world.”
Bellew’s first foray into the heavyweight division was a successful one but his victory over Haye will always be disputed by cynics due to the fact that Haye was forced to spend half the contest fighting on one leg.
Regardless, Bellew’s hand was raised and the heavyweight division got a new contender.
The Liverpudlian has since revealed that there are only two fights on the table that currently interest him.
“I’ve got three or four options,” Bellew added. “If the truth be known but in my eyes, there are only two options that I really like and there’s only two options that mean anything and one of those options is Joseph Parker and the only reason he’s an option is because he’s WBO heavyweight champion of the world.
“And the other option is to do a rematch and give this guy [David Haye] a second chance.”
