Tony Bellew Blew It

Honestly I think we are part of the problem here. We have built up the Tony Bellew hype.

If you think about our current world class prospects and world class fighters it was only Amir Khan and David Haye that we were talking about world titles after a handful of fights. Guys like Ricky Burns, Nathan Cleverly, Kell Brook, Rendall Munroe, Matthew Macklin are all at world level but none of them looked paticuarly special in there first 10 fights. They became world class prospects and fighters after putting on a few world class performances.

With Bellew we need to stop putting him i the "future world champ" category and put him into the "decent domestic champion" one. That can change when we see him put on a world class performance which he hasn't so far. I was ridiculed this week when I said Atoli Moore was the worst Commonwealth challenger I had seen, but I stand by that comment. Bellew has faced nobody so far.

Clearly Bellew has some power but I do not think it is at that David Haye/Naseem Hammed level where they can knock people out with one punch. He is not paticuarly fast and last night he was on dimensional so everything he did could be telegraphed. His gangly frame make him look awkward and when he gets in even fights it will play against him with the judges. We have seen videos of him sparring dominating people with the jab but he never used it last nigh???

Bellew is always going to look good against European fighters that come forward and do nothing spectacular. But I think the second you put him in there with someone athletic with hald a brain he will be in trouble. Cleverly, Pascal, Cloud, Dawson, Braehmer are all athleticly gifted and will be able to toy with Bellew. At domestic level Danny McIntosh
is nothing spectacular but on there last few performances McIntosh would do him as he has some speed and power.

The most worrying thing from last night though was the lack on a plan B and the constant moaning. That needs to be sorted pronto. Farnell offered nothing in the corner and couldnt get a response from his fighter, so maybe it times he wen't elsewhere.

 

@rob

I term it the 'boxrec bounce'. Fighters who post are given more leeway. Larry Olu is the biggest recipient of this

Tony can come again. He won and not everyone can look spectacular, but he needs quality opponenets. If he is lined up with a man from kinshasha who is 12-0 or 2-0 depending on who you ask, he should refuse.

Kevin Mitchell, and to a lesser extent Enzo Macrinelli, have shown what happens when you dont get the right opponents on the way up.

 

Wonder how long before he comes back on here?

 

cleverly is a class act. after the rubbish bellew has been saying about him (read this months boxing monthly) i think he was in his rights to gloat a little bit. i wish this hadnt happened last night , as i would of loved to of seen clev vs bellew.

 

Hit the nail on the head. Bellew has fought so many bums in his 14 fights. Last night was a perfect opponent for Bellew, better he learnt now rather than in a championship fight that you cant rely on power, and power alone.

BTW, TS who stated 115-114 was an awful score is wrong, I give many rds for Bob, especially late on.

 

I meant the caps in this post btw..

 

I don't know about kicking him when he's down, this isn't like having a pop at Hatton when he's clearly having some real problems, this is criticising a poor performance from a boxer who promised a performance and failed to deliver.

Surely this is what this forum is for, to discuss fights and fighters, whether it be good or bad?

 

Blessing in disguise this. Another blow out and Tony still believes he's a punchin machine thats gunna smash his way through all comers. Not gunna happen mate at the levell your at. Put youself under too much pressure re Cleverly. ****in forget him and do your own thing. Fights like this will develope mental strength and ability to adapt. Tony Bellew boxed like a complete twat and still won a clear unan decision over 12. Next time we see Tony, I hope he shows us what he can really do with everything flowin off the jab. I know it should'nt matter,and is a shite excuse, but them dinner shows are ****in horrible to fight on. Totally different and a flat atmosphere, and Bellew thrives on the crowd and the atmosphere. All in all a massive learnin fight happening at the right time (if you forget about the cleverly bollocks) against the right fighter.

 

The way some people are talking on here, you would think they were Bellew's trainer or promoter when really none of us have a clue.

I know the fight would never get made but I would bet anyone 50 quid, if Ajisafe ever stepped in with Cleverly, he would take Cleverly the full 12 rounds aswell, everytime Bellew landed a decent shot last night, Ajisafe went into survival mode.

 

In my mind, only positives came from last night. He's been given a chance to improve himself. Had he blown Ajisafe away in 3 rounds he could possibly have carried on without ever knowing the problems he needs to correct.

He now has the most awesome training tool possible, a 47 minute fight tape that contains everything he needs to know about his flaws

Saying that the Cleverely fight build up is now screwed is also a bit ridiculous too. As i said a few days ago, Cleverely has 2 years plus experience on Tony, the only way they could of fought would have been if Bellew was rushed through his learning process. IMHO they'll meet when either Cleverely is on the way down, or when his career stalls.

 

I was just about to post something along the lines of this! Like you say, if Bob had been Kod inside 3 then Bellew may have gone into his next fight with the same attitude and preparations and if that happened to be a fighter who can punch then he may have been beaten. At least he now has an idea at where he actually is at and that people aren't turning up to get knocked over by him. A nicely timed reality check, IMO.

There is no reason why he cannot learn from this and go on to be a great boxer.

 

Agree with the first part, had he blown away his opponent last night, and last nights problems surfaced against a better foe, he'd have been beaten.


As for the Cleverly fight, if Bellew learns from this and progresses accordingly, this fight can happen when both are in their prime...

Very interesting to see how Tony handles this performance which quite Frankly was shocking. But we all know by the posts he's made on here, he is very enthusiastic and knows the fight game inside out. I've NO DOUBT he'll come back from this better than ever.

 

Agree with everything here :good

Bellew's performance last night was terrible. There's no other way to describe it. The main fight on Sky Sports, the pre-fight discussion about a future fight with Clev and actually having Clev there in the studio!! The whole thing was a disaster.

Cleverly would destroy Bellew on that performance. Ajisafe, like the rest of us, could see Bellew's right hand loading up from round 1 to 12.

The only positive is that he completed 12 rounds. A fight with Cleverly, however, looks miles away at this moment in time.

 

Simply not as good as he thinks, does not have the tools for the higher class and i absolutely guarantee it.