Tony Bellew did the completely unexpected Saturday, beating David Haye when Haye's corner threw in the towel in the 11th round.
Haye had been knocked down for the 2nd time in the fight and fell between the ropes; he had climbed his way back in and stood up, seemingly beating the count, before the towel came flying in.
Haye fought for six rounds with a badly injured ankle—the announcers seemed to think it was a torn Achilles' tendon, but it seems unlikely he could have even moved if that were the case. Whatever the problem, Haye got in big trouble in the 6th round where he fell down twice and was knocked down once as Bellew smelled blood. Haye weathered that storm and fought on, but was greatly diminished.
Even in the early rounds Haye didn't dominate. Bellew won the first round with a good shot or two, and the next four rounds were slightly in Haye's favor as he stalked Bellew, unable to connect with the big shot he wanted. He whiffed several times on looping punches as Bellew did a great job dodging and eluding Haye's best efforts.
After the 6th round the scorecards were basically even, and Bellew built a lead after that. Haye was still dangerous, though, as he hobbled on the ankle, trying to score the KO that would salvage the fight. Bellew fought smart and avoided trouble for the most part, and waited for his own opportunities. It finally happened in the 11th.
Bellew, a cruiserweight who moved up (or fattened up) to 215 pounds for his first heavyweight fight, will debut in our Top 100 around #16 or so, while Haye—formerly #17—will drop out of the top 50.
SportsRatings projected top 20 for April, 2017:
Mar Apr Fighter Record Rating
1 1. TYSON FURY (15- 0- 0) 60.09 last rated win -16 months.
2 2. WLAD KLITSCHKO (42- 4- 0) 48.73 last rated win -23 months.
3 3. ALEX POVETKIN (25- 1- 0) 33.78
4 4. DEONTAY WILDER (14- 0- 0) 28.72
5 5. ANTHONY JOSHUA (11- 0- 0) 26.40
6 6. JOSEPH PARKER (11- 0- 0) 22.64
7 7. LUIS ORTIZ (12- 0- 0) 21.63
8 8. LUCAS BROWNE (10- 0- 0) 20.82 last rated win -12 months.
9 9. KYOTARO FUJIMOTO (10- 1- 0) 19.78
10 10. KUBRAT PULEV (16- 1- 0) 18.32
12 11. CHRISTIAN HAMMER (10- 1- 0) 17.77
13 12. CHARLES MARTIN ( 5- 1- 0) 16.64 last rated win -14 months.
11 13. VITALI KLITSCHKO (27- 2- 0) 16.55 last rated win -54 months.
15 14. LARON MITCHELL ( 2- 0- 0) 15.11
14 15. VYACH GLAZKOV (10- 1- 1) 14.92 last rated win -24 months.
new 16. TONY BELLEW ( 1- 0- 0) 13.91 RET 11 #17 DAVID HAYE
16 17. JARRELL MILLER ( 4- 0- 0) 13.70
18 18. MICHAEL HUNTER ( 3- 0- 0) 13.47 last rated win -17 months.
20 19. DILLIAN WHYTE ( 7- 1- 0) 13.22
19 20. BERMANE STIVERNE ( 7- 2- 1) 13.20 last rated win -16 months.