Tony Bellew did not want to celebrate the downfall of a fellow professional.
The Liverpool fighter will not regret his decision to move up to make his heavyweight debut as he benefited from an untimely injury to fierce rival David Haye in the main event in London’s O2 Arena on Saturday night.
In a bizarre back-and-forth battle, Haye was essentially reduced to a one-legged fighter at the midway point and not even the desperate attempts from his corner to tape the affected area up were able to give him a fighting chance.
‘The Hayemaker’ was arguably winning the fight up until the point that he picked up his injury but he did not make excuses for his defeat, as he rightly gave Bellew his props after the final bell.
The end came when Haye was sent crashing through the ropes in the penultimate round, unable to hold himself up, and his corner understandably threw in the towel.
And while promoter Eddie Hearn rushed in to try celebrate with ‘Bomber’, his congratulations were not welcomed immediately as Bellew was far more concerned with checking on the well-being of Haye.
https://twitter.com/HairyRunner85/status/838171461600874496
This crowd bloody loved it!
Bellew dashed Eddie Hearn off him 😂
— JB (@TheJoey_B) March 4, 2017
Bellew telling Hearn where to go made my year
— Alf (@_Harwood_) March 4, 2017
#HayeBellew even Bellew throws that tit Eddie Hearn out the way at the end knowin it was a farce
— The Collector (@thecollectorpro) March 4, 2017
Loved how bellew got Eddie Hearn off him after he won!!!
— Danny Bob (@footygimp) March 4, 2017
Bellew pushed Hearn off cause he had to go see Haye first. Fuck Hearn 😭
— sofwan 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@SofwanAhmed) March 4, 2017
https://twitter.com/adam_melia/status/838174234241351682
Bellew continues to blank Eddie Hearn. A budget Don King.
— John Brewin (@JohnBrewin_) March 4, 2017
Tony Bellew gets my respect for pushing that parasite Eddie Hearn away.
— Steve Heighway (@Mywayorthe) March 4, 2017
