Can anything be read into the quality of their opponents in the last two fights? Has Cleverly fought easier opposition? Or has Bellew just made harder work of his fights?
lets be honest neither great of there opponents been great. both cleverlys been below average which to be expected given he came back off a lay off and devastating loss and as with bellew stepping into new weight division. bellews been better but still not the best and the way he talked up his first opponent would have thought he was new coming of sugar ray robinson rather than a fringe world level possibly over hill contender . bellew has beaten better oppo at the weight but has also been caught napping by average cruiser weights and chinned.Still a fantasic punch last night to be fair. cleverly needed confidence building the question is whether that has been done by two gimmes.The fact nathan wasnt huge puncher at light heavy yet has stopped both his opponents at cruiser says a lot. It really is a pick em fight for me though and its all about how much nathan has left after kovalev.This is bigger factor for me than tony bellew not being weight drained as a boxing ability wise cleverly more skills and attributes.
Will be hoping that Clev gets the job done again when these do meet once again later on in the year, but you can't argue Bellew has fought the better fighters since they both stepped up. Yeah the way he's banged on about Brudov like he's some kind of axe murderer has been funny, but he was better quality than both of Clev's opponents as was Dos Santos. Depends what both fighters needed when stepping up. Clev seemed more knocked mentally by the defeat, questioning retirement etc before moving up in weight after a layoff so maybe 2 confidence builders is what he needed. Likewise Bellew claims he wasn't performing because he was killing himself on the scales.. beating two legit CW's with not to shabby backgrounds is perhaps what he needed. I would rather be sitting in Bellew's shoes though knowing that in the 2 fights he's had he's shown he can handle proper CW's and has been able to bomb them out (although perhaps Clev is looking comfortable behind closed doors with other CW's.. we don't know).
I disagree about cleverly having more boxing skills than bellew, cleverlys defense is non exisistant still. The best thing he could of done is get himself with a world class trainer straight after kovalev to really start fine tuning his game because he's clearly a very athletic young man with alot of heart. Personally I think it's a completely different fight at this weight bellew won't exactly be a world beater at cruiser but I think he beats clev this time in a tough but clear way.
I seriously don't think Clev has much left. I know that sounds ridiculous with him being so young, just don't think his hearts into it. Don't see Clev as a key piece in the division, I think Bellew is naturally a CW, and was draining himself to make LHW, I think Bellew even though he's older will have more joy at the weight. Not sure I really expect either to pick up titles..but will be contenders non the less..
i dont bellew or cleverley are key peices in this division if they earn a title shot they both get battered. hernandez,huck,lebedev,arslan,drozd,afolabi and upcoming usyk all beat them two. and probably many others i dont know..
Bellew I think is already in top 10 world cruiserweights, and in a couple of more fights I believe he will end up in top 4, I really think he can win a title at that weight in 12 months time, or certainly run the best very very close. Clev on other hand wont do nothing of note in division and will retire within next year or two I bet
