Tony Bellew believes he could knock former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury out and urges David Haye to retire

Tony Bellew has warned the returning Tyson Fury he would knock him out and has urged rival David Haye to retire.

Bellew delivered a clinical and calculated performance over his Brit rival on Saturday night at the 02 Arena, knocking the former world heavyweight champion out in the fifth round.

And while he refused to commit to naming who he wants to fight next, the former WBC cruiserweight champion believes he has the necessary attributes to stop Fury who will make his comeback on June 9 in Manchester.

Speaking on the Jim White Show, the 35-year-old admitted while he has respect for the man who infamously dethroned Wladimir Klitschko back in 2015, he could only see a fight between the pair ending one way.

“Tyson Fury is someone who I personally really like, let’s just get that straight,” Bellew said.

“He’s funny, I’m made up he’s back in the game, it’s great for boxing. But he doesn’t want to come anywhere near someone like me.

“Especially after only one fight, I would give him June, and then that would be it – I would have to be his second fight because he has an awful lot of advantages over me, but none of them that I class as dangerous.

“Not like Deontay Wilder or Anthony Joshua have over me – he’s not a better athlete than me, he’s not quicker than me and he’s definitely not stronger than me.

“I believe I could knock Tyson Fury out.”

The proud Evertonian came into the rematch with Haye as the underdog once again, with many believing the ex-WBA heavyweight champion would extract his revenge for the stoppage he suffered back in March 2017.

However, after overcoming the odds once, the perennial underdog from Toxteth is ready to upset the odds yet again.

He said: “Once again, everyone will laugh at me, everyone will say you haven’t got a chance because of the size of him.

“But timing is everything in boxing and styles, they make fights. I am a lot harder to hit than he is, I’m a lot faster than he is and I’m telling you now guys I hit harder than him.

“The only thing he is over me is size and weight and I don’t really see much else to be honest – just size and weight and I can counter them things.”

While Bellew’s star may well be on the rise during the Indian summer of his career, it is a completely different story for the man he left on the canvas no less than three times on Saturday night.

David Haye’s reputation is in tatters after back-to-back defeats to Bellew – an opponent he seriously underestimated before their first fight.

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The damning punch statistics which prove Haye was seriously outboxed by Bellew

After sustaining a ruptured Achilles in the first fight, the 37-year-old’s had no excuses after being blown away by the ‘Bomber’, and was gracious in defeat.

And Bellew has advised the ‘Hayemaker’ to call it a day.

“I think it’s time to finish, but that’s my personal opinion,” he added.

“I don’t know how he feels about it, but I have a lot of admiration for David Haye - I really, really do.

“I’m not saying we are the greatest friends or anything like that, but it doesn’t deter me. I’m not saying he’s my favourite person in the world because he’s not!

“But I still have an awful lot of admiration and respect for him.”