Bellew-Haye explains UK’s boxing boom

It was a mismatch on paper, but public interest made it happen anyway. And guess what, it was an awesome fight.

There was little reason to believe Tony Bellew could beat David Haye, but the 34-year-old Cruiserweight champion went up in weight and pulled off the massive upset in a brutal war.

It just goes to show that sometimes, you just have to give the fans what they want and maybe some magic will happen.

As boxing battles to regain it’s glory it once, the sport is in a Golden Era in Great Britain and Bellew vs. Haye was a great glimpse of why. It was a fight between two older guys who few outside Great Britain wanted to see the fight, but the simply gave the fans what they wanted and treated them to an incredible war both in the build-up to the fight and in the ring itself.

Bellew and Haye never shied away from an opportunity to exchange heated words. At a November 30 press conference, things go so heated during a face-to-face that it resulted in a brawl with Haye landing a bare-knuckle swing on Bellew’s cheek.

Simply, this was a fight between two guys who wanted prove that they were the better man when only one could be successful. And in the ring, that intensity led to a war where both guys suffered some devastating collateral damage. Bellew broke his hand in the early rounds, but it didn’t stop him from relenting. Then a bit later, Haye ruptured his Achilles tendon, but that didn’t stop his trainer from heavily taping up his leg and the former heavyweight champion from going back out there and staying very much in the fight and constantly threatening his massive power.

Finally, in the 11th round, Bellew ended things when he knocked Haye through the ropes, forcing a towel to be thrown into the ring.

Then the two who build up so much animosity toward each other embraced earned each other’s respect and ended their war in the proper way.

The fans got the fight they wanted and were treated to something great. The rest of boxing should take note. Great Britain was able to turn a fight between two second-tier British fighters into a must-see battle simply because it’s what the fans wanted to see and that is why right now, that is where boxing is thriving the most and the political game of the sport is killing it everywhere else.

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Corey Johns

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You could say Corey was born to become a sports journalist. His father won a national championship coaching college soccer. His mother is a baseball fanatic who hasn't missed seeing an Orioles game since 1983 (literally, sometimes it's annoying). His great uncle was a big-time boxing promoter and his maternal grandfather was once a department head at the Baltimore Sun. Basically, sports and journalism run through his blood. He played just about every little league sports there was when he was a kid and was a multi-sport athlete in high school; even playing in the first-ever high school sanction Rugby game in the country. Eventually he retired from sports as an undefeated Maryland state Rugby champion as a high school senior. Perhaps lack of athletic talent has more to do with the retirement, but he will tell you that it more had to do with a great desire to jump right into media. Upon his graduation from University of Maryland, Baltimore County as a triple communications major, Corey started the So Much Sports network and has continued to grow his websites and continues to work to make them premier sports media outlets.

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