Bellew SHOULD move up to Cruiser!

What? By "look" I thought you meant his performances.

If you mean do I find him hunky and buff at 175 or would he be more of a beefcake if he moved up to cruiserweight then he probably would be who gives a ****?

Its about how and if weight making affecting his performances and I don't think it is unduly.

 

If Bellew is drained why does he fight at this weight? Why does he not fight at Cruiser?

 

Thinks he is gaining a advantage at fighting at 175, is not confident in facing other CW.

He would probably be beaten badly at CW, but atleast he won't get beaten because he is dead at the weight.

 

I mean if Bellew would be a good technical boxer he could be also good at LHW. But when you are already hardly making the weight and then miss all night long with your shots it gets you tired even faster. I mean Chilemba already fought at a low pace... but at the end even this slow pace was too much for Bellew. A result of the early rounds where he lost a lot of energy:
At CW he wont even get close to the top! At LHW at least he gets close in being a mandatory.

 

Miranda only had 6 rounds in him, he is over the hill. McKenzie is domestic level and limited boxing skills, he also dipped his work rate at second period of fight. Against better fighters, with a high work rate (i.e. Cleverly, Chilemba) Bellew has struggled to keep the same pace and has noticeably weakened in the championship rounds of those fights.

His previous trainer, Arnie, has apparently advised that Bellew go up a weight. In the past other commentators such as Bunce have questioned if Bellew should go up a weight. In the post-fight presser, his promoter, was puzzled at why Bellew looked to be struggling with the pace of the fight in the latter rounds. So, it is entirely legitimate for people to ask - why has Bellew's work rate dipped in those important and very close fights (Cleverly & Chilemba) in the latter rounds?

There is a very good reason to stay at light heavy - more money to be earned from potentially bigger fights i.e. Cleverly rematch, Dawson, Hopkins etc. Bellew is in this sport to earn as much money as possible to look after his family, and you can't blame him for wanting to stay at light heavy, as he has better earning potential there. It is understandable for him to say he can make the make no problem, but lets look at the evidence, if his team cannot help him make the weight safely and keep him nourished and strong, then surely they need to consider a move up to cruiser?

 

True, and good point and debate which has been running ever since the start of Tony's career. I think it could just be down to complacency v Chilemba. He was told in the corner by his team that he was winning until round 6 then he said himself, he decided to take a round off and that's when Chilemba won the round and gained momentum and it just kept slipping away until round 12 - when his corner said you need to win this round. The rematch would be intriguing though - not for the fight, but tactically. :rofl

 

Bellew would get destroyed there
Got guys like Hernandez, Huck, Afolabi, Lebedev they would destroy Bellew

 

Bellew showed fine stamina in the Cleverly fight. Maybe he did tire in the later rounds but it was at a fierce pace from the first bell, so that's no shame. It's hardly like we're talking about Jermain Taylor or someone like that here; Bellew tires in the late rounds of tough fights. Which fighters don't? It's hardly the indication that he's drained.

If Bellew is struggling with fitness now, think about what would happen if he added 15-20lbs of muscle. His lungs are still going to be the same size, yet he'd have all that extra muscle to pump oxygen to. His stamina wouldn't increase, he'd struggle even more to be busy in the late rounds.

I'm fine with people saying they think it'd be better if Bellew was a cruiserweight. If they think that's the case and they think he'd be stronger or whatever, I'd be interesting in reading that argument. What I disagree with though, is this baseless argument that because Bellew looks weak and he doesn't have a lot of muscle, it means he's never eating properly and he could add 20lbs of muscle overnight and end up looking like David Haye.

Bellew's natural physique is the one he has now and he'd struggle to add lots of muscle. I remember having this exact same argument with people in the general forum about Pavlik. Because of his physique, which is very similar to Bellew's, people assumed he could add muscle easily and be a stronger, fitter fighter at 168lbs or even light heavyweight. I argued that it wasn't that simple, and in the end, I was proven to be right. Pavlik's natural physique was very slight, just like Bellew's is, and these fights can't just add muscle and look like Jeff Lacy. It doesn't make them better fighters to try and do so.

There is no "evidence" though. The argument that Bellew doesn't eat properly is made up and the argument behind him moving up is merely conjecture. There's no reason to think that he's being underfed or he could naturally move up to cruiserweight with ease.

 

Bellew faded very badly in the second half the fight with Cleverly, if he had keep up the same work rate he would have clearly beat Cleverly that night. Cleverly and Chilemba had no trouble working hard for 12 rounds. His old trainer, who knows him better than most, has said that Bellew would be a lot stronger at cruiser, you know more than Arnie? You are ignoring the evidence of those two performances, plus the weight added to the argument from the opinion of his old trainer and others, so there is no point discussing further with you. Time will tell.

 

Would love to see him at Cruiser, much higher chance of him getting sparked out which would make for great entertainment. Eddie needs to make this happen!

 

He wouldn't need to put on anything near that amount of muscle. I see it as more a case of when he is training he'll be able to fuel his workouts far better and not having to worry about losing weight. Being able to train harder is a proven way to improve fitness.

I don't have a problem with guys busting their ass to make a weight providing it's worth the effort and they really gain something from it. Chavez Jr gets a huge size differential by the time he enters the ring which plays a major factor in his punch resistance and helps him bully his opponents. I don't think Tony gets any huge advantage that is worth the effort to beat the scale.

Will he make an impact at CW? I have my doubts but I do think he'll probably be more TV friendly at the weight. You don't get world titles for that though!

 

Jack is the reason why many people in boxing are ******s.

 

:good you should see some of the things he says in the lounge atsch