Tony Bellew tells the story of him and David Price making David Haye quit in sparring session

Tony Bellew claims he and David Price made David Haye take a knee and then quit during a 2005 sparring session after which Haye withdrew from his scheduled fight against Mark Hobson.

Bellew rematches Haye on Saturday, May 5, , and recalled the full story of his intense sparring with the Hayemaker more than a decade ago.

“I’ve studied him my whole life,” Bellew, who was an amateur at the time, told . “I sparred him ten years ago, I just knew I’d get to that level one day.”

More: Where to stream Tony Bellew v David Haye II

“I hit him and wobbled him. He took a knee, I didn’t. He said it was his hamstring. He did pull out with the hamstring in his next fight, but he took a knee I didn’t.

“There were witnesses there, David Price was one of them, just ask him.”

The former WBC cruiserweight champion continued: “Don’t get me wrong, David Price hurt him a lot more than I did.

“I’ve never seen it before, never seen it since. David Price hit David Haye in that sparring session and he hit him so hard, I s*** you not, David [Haye] spun around 360 degrees. He did a dance and Pricey stood there as if to say: ‘How did that happen?’

“I got in the next round and I hit him with a left hook on the side of the head and he had to take a knee and then the next round he was done.”

However Bellew conceded that his sparring with Haye was not one-sided by any means.

“He hit me and I still think to this day it’s probably the hardest I’ve ever been hit. It’s him or David Price.

“First round he hit me with an uppercut on the chin. I didn’t even see it. It hit me on the chin and for no reason my leg just kicked out like a donkey. It’s never happened to me since.”