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Boxing

05th Mar 2017

Tony Bellew reveals he suffered an injury to his hand during early stages of Satuday’s fight

It wasn't *just* Haye that had to put up with an injury

Simon Lloyd

With the dust settling on last night’s big fight in the O2, much has been made of David Haye’s injury.

Haye appeared to suffer an injury to his right ankle in the sixth round, something which many have suggested had a significant influence on Tony Bellew’s eventual victory. With the result inevitable, Bellew, the WBC cruiserweight champion, was handed the win when Haye’s corner threw in the towel in the eleventh round.

But while most of the post-match talk has been centred on Haye’s injury, it’s emerged that Bellew suffered an injury of his own during the early stages.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live’s Sportsweek, the 34-year-old revealed that he’d suffered a broken hand.

“I broke my right hand in the second or third round. It’s sore now but I don’t feel the pain – all I think about it winning.”

Bellew later described the hand as the size of a small bowling ball, before indicating that he will consider what he does next in his boxing career carefully.

“At the end of the day I have proved everyone wrong,” he said.  “But I can’t keep doing this to my body.

“We will sit down and I need a few days to take on board what I have done because it doesn’t feel real at the minute.”

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