Hayes vows to crush Bellew in rematch

David Haye has vowed not to make “the same mistake twice” in his rematch against Tony Bellew, which he describes as his “last chance”.

Haye was beaten in the 11th round of their first meeting after suffering an ankle injury but concedes that he must make tactical improvements before meeting Bellew again on December 17.

“I need to raise my game. If I show up in the same condition, if I turn up with the same tactics and the same mind-set then he’s correct – he could walk away with the victory,” Haye said. “But I’m not a stupid fighter.

“Maybe tactically, I went about it incorrectly. I’ve made mistakes in the past and learned from them.

“I don’t believe I was complacent. I trained very, very hard. It wasn’t down to not putting in the work. As you saw, I was swinging until the bitter end and if I wasn’t in good cardiovascular condition I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did.

“I reviewed the fight and I know what happened – I understand his strengths, and I understand my strengths and weaknesses. He showed me something that I didn’t believe he had.

“By the time I get into the ring for the rematch I’ll be 37 but I haven’t won multiple world titles in multiple weight classes by making the same mistake twice.”

Haye has spent the past few months recuperating the ankle injury that he sustained in the first fight but insisted that he is fully healed: “I’m in a good physical place. My recovery from a ruptured Achilles has gone fantastically well.

I’ve spent hours every day working behind the scenes so when I step into the ring, there will be no excuses. Nothing will break down.”