Bellew is a really skilled operator, with bags of natural talent. His weaknesses for me are his stamina - easily fixed, move up to 190-195lbs, and his tendency to go into kill or survive mode, without much inbetween. In his early fights he was trying to behead the opponent with every shot, against Ovil in the rematch he fought like a girl. At times he struggles to get into the groove. If he'd turned pro younger and/or (or both!) been more active we'd likely see the very best of him. He's certainly more skilled than Cleverly, but as yet (like Dawson) he's not become the sum of his parts, whereas Cleverly has to a greater extent - despite underachieving in the last 18 months. What annoys me about Cleverly is that once Dean Powell had sorted the corner out against Murat he was like a terminator, awesome to watch. Against Karpency he looked like he was firing blanks. Not punching properly, brutal footwork etc.
Did he? I can't remember him beating anyone as good as Miranda as a prospect. Anyway, you're twisting my words again. I didn't mean to make a direct comparison between Bellew and Calzaghe. I used Joe as an example of how not having the wins on your record doesn't stop you beating someone who does. I didn't intend to say Bellew was on the level of Ward when talking about how skilled he is. I don't think you need to be to beat Dawson; Pascal certainly isn't and I think Bellew could reach and even surpass his level.
Exactly JFT. Pascal ain't all that. Anyone with a jab and a decent chin ought to handle him. Fun to watch and seems a great guy, but he's exhausted after about six rounds and lacks ring intelligence.
The difference between how Hopkins handled Pascal and Dawson didn't supports that. If you can move, jab a bit and work the body, you can beat Pascal. All Froch needed to do after a competitive start was keep it at range and control the younger, faster man. Dawson is a disaster technically, but Bellew wouldn't be able to deal with his spurts of activity, since he fades dramatically himself.
We'll just have to agree to disagree then. I do think Bellew beats Cleverly in a rematch, haven't seen much of Shumenov, so can't comment on a Bellew/Shumenov fight. Cloud would KO him IMO, there was a moment in the Miranda fight where he landed a big barrage of power punchers, imagine if that was Cloud? Dawson and Hopkins both too skilled, and Pascal too fast and powerful. He'd beat fellow contender Murat though, but not Campillo.
To be honest with you it's just shorter to write on my iPhone. And what with all the fights I've seen and old reports I've read on him, it's not a slur on my part. Check my posting history I've bothered to write Mustafa Muhammad many times. Saad is shorter than Franklin. Ali shorter than Clay. Eddie Mustafa just doesn't sound right. Just so you know, I wasn't being rude or making a statement about religion.
TBH Bellew will sooner rather then later have to venture back into world title fights and Dawson who knows. Could well be damaged goods after that loss to Ward, It may have really knocked him back. Not sure how Tony comes to conclusion about there's now a blueprint on how to beat Chad when Ward is a totally different fighter and Pascal also beat Chad. But good to see he's believing in himself to get there and i think he'd do himself justice. Think if Chad comes back well from defeat he beats Tony. Dawson for all his critics is still a good fighter.
Bellew. Not bias or licking his balls cos he posts on here either. People coming out with that just to try to seem cool are just as annoying as these that supposedly suck up to him.
You never know how a guy responds after being KO'd. Dawson before the KO doesn't lose a round. Now? Who knows?
Because he's a nice guy and you've met him?:shock: I think it could be a real quality fight, and I'm just hoping it actually get made.