BOXING: Carl Frampton defeat has not affected me says David Haye

The 36-year-old on Friday weighed in at 16st 9oz for Saturday’s fight at London’s O2 Arena against his 15st 3lbs 8oz rival, who will fight at heavyweight for the first time.

Their match-up comes shortly after Frampton, who like Haye is trained by Shane McGuigan, unexpectedly lost in Las Vegas against Leo Santa Cruz, and gave McGuigan only his second ever defeat as trainer.

The fallout to a fighter losing can often be felt elsewhere within that stable, in the same way victories can inspire others, but Haye insists morale within their camp has been unaffected and that he is also unconcerned about criticism since aimed at McGuigan.

“I don’t feel any additional pressure to get a win for a stable.

“Getting a win for myself is more than motivation enough. The more success I have, the more Carl has, the younger guys feel the energy and it spurs everyone else on: the success of a big fight.

“It’s not low like (the Hayemaker camp after losing to Wladimir Klitschko). That fight was a lot higher profile, it was front-page news and been built up for many years, and the performance was very disappointing.

“There was nothing disappointing about the Frampton fight; he just lost a majority decision. There’s no real disgrace in that.

“The morale in the camp isn’t low, though. It was low that day, but Carl Frampton’s in good health. It’s just moved on to the next fight and this is the next fight.”

McGuigan’s instructions in the corner and Frampton’s tactics against Santa Cruz were criticised after their January 28 fight in Las Vegas.

And he has been criticised this week by Bellew’s trainer Dave Coldwell.

“I’ve seen some of the criticisms, but the general public don’t know Carl like Shane does. Shane needs to speak to his fighter in a way he’ll understand. If Shane believes he’s won a round or lost a round he may say the opposite, to get the best out of Carl,” he added.