World cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew will step up to heavyweight to fight David Haye at the O2 Arena in March, it has been announced.
The pair have been involved in a verbal feud for some time now, with Bellew calling out Haye in the build-up to his WBC title defence against BJ Flores last month.
Bellew stopped Flores in three rounds before immediately turning his attention to Haye at ringside as the two Brits squared up.
Haye vowed to knock Bellew out with a single jab, while the Liverpudlian said he would step up a weight if Haye - a former world champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight - would not drop down.
"The public demand for me to violently knockout Tony Bellew was simply too strong," Haye said in a statement.
"The country is fed up of his constant yapping. Even in his hometown of Liverpool, I would be stopped in the street by people begging me to spectacularly send him into retirement.
"Bellew is completely delusional if he thinks he can beat me. He still thinks he's on the set of Creed and there will be some kind of Rocky style happy ending. But come March 4 at the O2 in London I will bring reality crashing down on him."
With the bout taking place at heavyweight, Bellew's belt will not be on the line.
Barney Corkhill
