How would this have played out? Tony did well against Usyk, IMHO. Until the KO, it wasn't yhe whitewash that many thought it would be. Tony has the power to stop Dorticos, who, in my opinion, is vulnerable to power punchers. Out of the main four back then, Usyk and Breidis bring too much pressure for Tony, whilst Gassiev brings too much power - but Dorticos was vulnerable. What says you?
I'll back Dorticos to get the KO. He can be hurt but no one who makes it to the 12th taking a beating from Gassiev is glass jawed. Fun while it lasts but I see Dorticos outlasting Bellew in this one.
Just imagining a Bellew vs Chilemba fight but with Dorticos being there instead of Chilemba, it would be Dorticos who I would back. Dorticos hits harder and has a far better chin than Chilemba. I think Bellew suffers a KO loss in the middle to late rounds.
Usyk had the mobility, ring IQ, and conditioning to keep himself from getting hit by Bellew’s left hook, but he had to eat a lot of right hands for his trouble. Dorticos isn’t a very smart fighter and never moves his head, so he’d get knocked out just like Makabu did. It’s only a matter of time before Bellew connects his left hook on Dorticos and puts him away. Dorticos also has very overrated power, but with Bellew’s headmovement and mobility he wouldn’t be landing much anyway.
Dorticos has got a much better chin than Makabu thats for sure. He took solid shots to the head for 12 rounds against Gassiev who is a murderous puncher. Who has Bellew ever knocked out anyway? A wooden legged David Haye? He couldnt even hurt Cleverly in 24 rounds with him
Gassiev is a hard puncher, but he isn’t a very accurate puncher and wasn’t connecting clean with most of his shots on Dorticos, which is why Dorticos lasted as long as he did. I only remember Gassiev landing 3 or 4 good clean shots on Dorticos in the entire fight, which was all it took to end Dorticos, but it took him forever to do it. At best Dorticos has an average chin for a cruiserweight, since even Edison Miranda, who pretty much got off the couch rocked him several times. Also, Cleverly is a light heavyweight and is both more experienced and better defensively than Dorticos is.
You must be going off memory as have just rewatched it and Gassiev was landing numerous hooks and straights clean throught the fight. The only world level man Bellew ever stopped was Makabu and it took him 5 rounds to finally finish a wooden legged Haye. He himself never had the sturdiest of chins either. He was an underrated techinical boxer though I’ll give him that
Dorticos sleeps him I think. 6 inch reach advantage is HUGE to overcome. I wouldn't be surprised by any result though. I always liked Bellew's skill.
