Tony Bellew reveals broken hand and says he's glad David Haye 'is healthy and safe'

Tony Bellew has revealed that he broke his hand during his bruising bout against David Haye, but says he is just happy his bitter foe is safe and well after suffering a nasty Achilles injury during the sixth round.

The 34-year-old Evertonian believes he broke his right hand during the second or third round but managed to put the injury out of his mind and defy the odds against the Bermondsey boxer, who is set to undergo surgery on his damaged Achilles.

Bellew also revealed that he was suffering from a knee complaint prior to the clash but managed to focus on the task at hand and perhaps set himself up for heavyweight title fights against the likes of Deontay Wilder and Joseph Parker.

"I'm just happy David's home and healthy and safe," Bellew told The Guardian. "We did receive injuries. I broke my right hand in the second or third round. It's very sore now. I had a bad right knee myself going in but this is not what people want to hear. This is why I asked David from the very start, 'are you okay?' And believe me for four rounds he was fine. I don't feel the pain, all I think about is winning."

Bellew and Haye exchanged a substantial amount of unpleasantries in the build up to the bout on Saturday but embraced after the final bell with respect finally shown from both sides. Bellew was keen to stress that he had no intention of hurting the 36-year-old and says some of the jibes Haye directed at him were simply "disgusting".

"I know there's been a lot of bad blood and I think some of the things he said were disgusting and distasteful but it was purely one way," Bellew added. "I didn't want to hurt David. I would never say I wanted to hurt someone. My 11-year-old son had to listen to someone tell people he was going to decapitate me."