Yep. There's nothing in real sporting terms to rate "2018 Haye v Bellew" as anything more relevant than "Hughie Fury v Sam Sexton", which is being hyped a lot less. I'm not saying Fury and Sexton are elite either, and certainly not exciting, but it is the British title and Hughie just went the distance with Parker (who is a world's top 5 heavyweight right now). Bellew v Haye should have been billed as a "British heavyweight title eliminator" or something. Instead, people are led to believe these guys are ELITE or even ALL-TIME GREATS of British boxing !
No disrespect to Tony Bellew, but he has never defeated anyone I rate at all highly. He's a Gavin Rees level "British world champion".
Gonna watch a bit more of him when I get the chance mate. Pretty much missed the whole of the cruiserweight super series thing. Bit sorry about that now with what I,ve heard of it so far anyway. Yeah his footwork looked good against Joyce we,re saying him and lomachenko we,re the golden boys of the tournament. Not sure he looked anywhere near lomachenkos level against Joyce tho. I actually think Joyce caused him a few problems in a losing effort. But that was a few years ago now.
Bellew has the respect of the casuals now and a large percentage of the boxing public too. I personally struggle to assess his level accurately because of his inconsistency at light heavyweight, my lack of knowledge on Makabu and the fact Haye was shot to pieces. What I do know is he's a much improved fighter and heavy handed above light heavyweight. He got his world title shot in Goodison and took it before vacating. He got his prizefights against Haye, making millions and winning emphatically to boost his profile and bank account. All credit to him, great matchmaking and promoting. If he stays on, there's one fight and one fight only he needs to take - the winner of Gassiev/Usyk. This Fury/Andre Ward stuff is bull****. Trying to catch guys cold for a big payday who'd annihilate him when fit. He's done that and done it well, I take nothing away from him. But lets see him in with the elite of his weight class now and see how he does. I actually think he'll do okay. He'd earn the respect of everyone for taking it, win, lose or draw. Sky could turn it into a blockbuster so he gets the payday too. I've no interest in seeing him fight anyone else.