DAVID Haye has dismissed suggestions he is under further pressure to defeat Tony Bellew because of stablemate Carl Frampton's recent high-profile defeat.
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," Haye said. "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 was 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.
"I know what happened in the fight tactically, and if it happens again Carl will cruise to a much easier victory this time around. That small bit of negativity towards Shane hasn't bothered him in any way.
"The next day [after Frampton-Santa Cruz] we flew to Miami and when we got there, started training straight away. We didn't have time to feel down."
McGuigan's instructions in the corner and Frampton's tactics against Santa Cruz were criticised after their January 28 fight in Las Vegas.
His first ever defeat as a trainer was when Conrad Cummings lost to Ronny Mittag in November, and he has been criticised this week by Bellew's trainer Dave Coldwell, who believes Haye has declined and partly because McGuigan has succeeded Adam Booth.
"I've seen some of the criticisms, and I've seen why people did criticise at certain stages, but the general public don't know Carl like Shane does," Haye said.
"Shane needs to speak to his fighter in a way he'll understand, and the layman on the street might not understand instructions. If Shane believes he's won a round or lost a round he may say the opposite, to get the best out of Carl.
"Some need to be told they're losing every round to get the most out of them. Some need to be told they've won every round otherwise they go into their shell.
"He understands if your fighter's in a tight fight. Sometimes you get a decision, sometimes you don't. It doesn't make Shane a worse coach because one referee believed he lost. Shane's been around long enough to understand that.
"Although it was a long unbeaten run that was never going to last forever, particularly when you move into world-class fights, when there's nothing in it.
"It [also] won't help Dave Coldwell and Tony Bellew's morale [that their stablemate David Price recently lost]. He's the big, powerful guy in the gym, who was going to knock out Anthony Joshua."
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