“It was just a reaction. To be honest, it wasn't the right reaction.”

There’s a tinge of embarrassment in Tony Bellew’s voice. He’s recalling how, seconds after the first successful defence of his status as a world cruiserweight champion, he slid under the ropes, squared up to a fellow fighter and started calling him ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’.

“I'm not proud of the way I acted, but it was an off-the-cuff reaction,” Bellew admits. “I can't change how I feel or the way I react. I'm not saying it's the right thing to do because it wasn't. It's not the way a WBC champion should act or conduct himself, but I got caught up in the moment and it seemed to make good entertainment for the people who were watching.

“Sometimes, I have to be protected from myself,” he adds. “I'm dangerous to myself at times and I was that Saturday night. I just needed someone to get a grip of me after I stopped BJ Flores [his opponent that night] and before I could get to that rope. The coach wasn't quick enough, but it is what it is.

“I made a mistake with the SpongeBob too, mate.” He meant Sideshow Bob. “When you've just been punched in the head and you're in the middle of a fight, it's very easy to get mixed up.”

SpongeBob SquarePants, Sideshow Bob, same difference. His dislike of David Haye, the man on the end of his Liverpudlian lip, was unmistakeable. And despite his unease about the over-dramatics, that call out to the former WBA world heavyweight champion lit a flame under their hotly anticipated all-British match-up, scheduled for 4 March at the O2 Arena.

Britain's current boxing world champions Show all 8 1 /8 Britain's current boxing world champions Britain's current boxing world champions Britain's current boxing world champions Getty Britain's current boxing world champions Tyson Fury WBC heavyweight AFP Britain's current boxing world champions Anthony Joshua IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight PA Britain's current boxing world champions Callum Smith WBA super middleweight (Super) Getty Britain's current boxing world champions Billy Joe Saunders WBO super middleweight Getty Britain's current boxing world champions Josh Taylor WBA and IBF light welterweight Getty Britain's current boxing world champions Terri Harper IBF super featherweight Getty Britain's current boxing world champions Josh Warrington IBF featherweight Getty

Haye is tentatively negotiating a return to boxing’s top table, scoring cheap victories against Mark de Mori (“the first-ever YouTube trained boxer,” Bellew is quick to note) and Arnold Gjergjaj, also known as ‘The Cobra’ (“more like 'Gjergjaj the Maggot'”) earlier this year.

‘Bomber’ Bellew, meanwhile, has enjoyed world champion status since he defused the explosive Ilunga Makabu at Goodison Park in May. Both he and Haye are a long way from their day of sparring each other, when Bellew came out best.

“The back story is we sparred many years ago. Between me and Pricey [David Price, the former British heavyweight champion and a fellow Liverpudlian], we gave him a hiding on the day.” Bellew claims his ability to adapt and adjust surprised Haye, and he’ll need the show the same flexibility when climbing up to the unlimited weight division.

“But don't read nothing into sparring, it means nothing whatsoever,” he insists. “The real back story is he's probably known as the best cruiserweight this country's ever produced, and I want to be known as the best cruiserweight this country's ever produced.

“That's all you need to know. It doesn't matter about sparring, you can have a good day or a bad day in the gym. All that matters is what happens when you get under them lights, and every time I get under the lights I put it all on the line.”



Haye, naturally, does not believe that will be enough and of all the build-up’s fighting talk, the one comment to stick is his. “I could win the fight with one hand,” he told the television cameras moments after the post-Flores dramatics, and the line has been repeated time and again in the months since. It was somewhat undermined when, at last month’s promotional press conference, Haye landed a premature left in the face-off. Bellew stayed upright, and is confident the same can happen when he feels the full force of the ‘Hayemaker’ in the spring.

“If he thinks I'm a walk in the park, he's in for a mistake. A big, big mistake. If I hit David clean, he'll go the same way Makabu and Flores went. If David hits me clean, I'll go the way them two went as well. It's a shoot-out, but he's going into the shoot-out with a man who's on a run, with huge confidence, and who's a proper world champion.”

Things got physical between the pair at a promotional press conference last month (Getty)

He also has a plan to deal with any late bout of cold feet on the part of his opponent, or a recurrence of the infamous toe injury which Haye claims curtailed him in his 2011 defeat to Wladimir Klitschko. “I'm going to stick steel toe cap boots on him in the contract and make it compulsory he walks around in them so he can't break his big toe,” he promises. “And I'm going to let him walk around dressed as one of the knights in shining armour. That way, he can be wrapped in cotton wool and safe for 12 weeks.

“When I knock David Haye out there’s only one place left to go,” he adds. “We all know where that is. I'm not even going to say his name because he's got more important things on at the minute, but let's just get past the bitch from Bermondsey and then we'll address the situation then.”

He’s talking about Anthony Joshua, isn’t he? “You'll have to guess that one for yourself... I'll take care of the bitches in the meantime.”