David Hayes has the boxing world in doubt of his future career after sustaining what appear to be serious injuries during his bout with Tony Bellew.
Hayes was set to mark his return to boxing after four years out of the ring, but injured his right Achilles heel in the sixth round. He refused to throw in the towel, with the Londoner instead continuing to fight on just one leg until the 11th round, when the fight was stopped.
During the fight, Bellew repeatedly got the upperhand on Hayes, deftly dodging and swiping past Haye’s well known power punches. During the sixth round, Hayes twisted his ankle and repeatedly struggled to get back up after getting knocked down.
In the penultimate round, he was batted through the ropes and although trying to press on, his trainer Shane McGuigan threw in the towel.
Hayes underwent surgery on Sunday 5th March, which has left many gutted after rumours surfaced that he may be unable to ever return to the ring. Hayes’ career has been marred by injury after injury, having sustained a serious shoulder injury in 2012 which forced him to retire before his comeback of 2016. However, injuries still persisted, and he withdrew from a number of matches and big dates. Now, in an ironic yet somewhat fateful twist, it is the Achilles Heel which may have finally driven Hayes from boxing altogether.
