Bellew v Usyk

I agree with you about Tony having good speed and movement, but look at Gasievs last Four fights and then look at the fighters you mentioned. Remember he was floored by Makubu.

 

Point being if Makubu floored him who is a small cruiser Gassiev will take his head off. It is debatable if David Haye could even still throw a meaningful punch at HW after back, achilles, shoulder, bicep and hand injuries/surgery. Makubu he went for it and came out on top and fair play to Tony for that but see him go for it against Gassiev or Usyk who have certified chins and lets see the result.

 

Heavily floored and almost stopped let’s not forget by a CW who today isn’t even top 15.

By the time he met Haye- he was so far gone he was only throwing arm punches because he couldn’t push off from his back foot.

 

It always baffles me when people (who I respect & who ordinarily post knowledgeable stuff) go back to a loss on his record 5 years ago, when he was draining his body down to 175. Draining down to such a ridiculous extent (for a frame clearly more suited to 200ib) reduces your muscle mass. Meaning you can’t punch as hard and your punch resistance is weaker.

He fronted up against Stevenson and got knocked out. It turned out on the night that he couldn’t hurt Stevenson whereas every shot Stevenson threw was like a hammer. Stevenson is/was elite at 175.

My point is, it just seems a little desperate to trawl back 5 years and judge a fighter when he was at a lower weight class.

Manny Pacquiao got stopped in 1999 against Sangsurat at Bantamweight. 5 years later he was fighting 3 divisions up at featherweight when he beat Barrera & drew against Marquez....hold on, if a bantamweight stopped him then how was he supposed to take shots from top level featherweights?? The point is, it doesn’t matter what happened 5 years previous. So much can change in experience, skill and how you grow into a weight class. It is possible to punch harder at the weight classes above because you can build more muscle mass, and you can also take harder shots. I’m not comparing Pac with Bellew in terms of levels before anyone accuses me of that.

Just to add, I seen a post questioning Bellew’s power and putting up his stat of 61% KO to back up the posters point that his power is a myth. Well, at 200ib (and above) is KO ratio is actually 80%. Which demonstrates my point...in this case the boxer in question (Bellew) punches a lot harder and judging by the fact he’s never been beat at 200ib above it shows that his punch resistance is much better too.

Move on from Stevenson. Bellew is a very dangerous fighter at 200ib+.

 

Against who? His resume is embarrassing. Brudov, Dos Santos, Kuilikaskis, Makubu and Flores. I fancy Okolie to starch all those comfortably now.

He got chinned by Makubu.

When he actually fights a credible opponent at 200lb and above, we can judge how dangerous he is.

 

Flores had never been stopped in 30 odd fights, Bellew stopped in 3 rounds. Dos Santos had never been stopped either. Bellew did him in 5.

People were saying Makabu was gonna starch him. And the lad can bang. Anyone can get knocked down, and it was a flash knockdown. He got back up, recovered and knocked him out.

You throw the weaker opponents in but what did you expect him to do, fight a top opponent every time?

Haye was a dangerous opponent, Masternak was a tough opponent. I believe Flores and Makabu was but he made it look easy.

 

Masternak was a close fight and his level is just below WBSS crop. Cleverly was embarrassing and one of the worst British fights of all time.

with regards as to what I would have liked to see him do, enter the WBSS and watch him against the best in his division, carrying through the WBC title and flying the flag for British Boxing. I don't think anybody would have dug him out for loosing against Breidis, Gassiev or Usyk.

Anyone who actually believes Bellew has a chance of 'chinning' Usyk seriously needs there head checking.

 

I aint Bellews biggest fan but if he does end up fighting Usyk, then props to him. It aint exactly the easy cash out route. Would do big things for his legacy if he shomehow got a legit result too

 

How can you even say that with a straight face? Someone who isn’t too 15 now? So ****ing what? He was world champion at the time and guess what? Bellew was wrote off. I’m not his biggest fan, being a red from Liverpool but to come back off the canvas at Goodison to win a world title via stoppage was special. I’ve said it before but I don’t think there’s better circumstances a British fighter has won a world title.

 

We are all living in Tony Bellews own Hollywood movie at this point. Written, directed, produced by, and starring... Tony Bellew himself. If he wants to beat Usyk you damn well better believe it is happening!

 

Tony Bellew entered a Tony Bellew lookalike contest, and won the damn thing. Simple as dat.