Frampton form no worry to Haye as Bellew awaits

David Haye has rejected the idea that stablemate Carl Frampton's recent high-profile defeat means he is under more pressure for his all-English heavyweight grudge match against Tony Bellew in London on Saturday.

The 36-year-old Haye weighed in at 16st 9oz (101 kg) for Saturday's fight at London's O2 Arena against 15st 3lbs 8oz (96.6 kg) for Bellew, who will fight at heavyweight for the first time.

Their much-hyped bout follows Frampton's defeat by Leo Santa Cruz in Las Vegas, just a second career loss for trainer Shane McGuigan, who also oversees Haye.

Haye, however, said Friday: "I don't feel any additional pressure to get a win for a stable.

"Getting a win for myself is more than motivation enough. The more success I have, the more Carl has, the younger guys feel the energy and it spurs everyone else on: the success of a big fight.

"The morale in the camp isn't low, though. It was low that day, but Carl Frampton's in good health. It's just moved on to the next fight and this is the next fight.

"The next day (after Frampton-Santa Cruz) we flew to Miami and when we got there, started training straight away. We didn't have time to feel down."

McGuigan's instructions in the corner and Frampton's tactics against Santa Cruz were criticised after their January 28 fight in Las Vegas.

This week saw Bellew's trainer, Dave Coldwell, suggest Haye had become a worse boxer now he is trained by McGuigan, the son of former world champion Barry McGuigan, rather than Adam Booth.

But Haye said: "Shane needs to speak to his fighter in a way he'll understand, and the layman on the street might not understand instructions. If Shane believes he's won a round or lost a round he may say the opposite, to get the best out of Carl.

"Although it was a long unbeaten run that was never going to last forever, particularly when you move into world-class fights, when there's nothing in it.

"It (also) won't help Dave Coldwell and Tony Bellew's morale (that their stablemate David Price recently lost). He's the big, powerful guy in the gym, who was going to knock out Anthony Joshua."