Can we all Agree Bellew is criminally underrated?

Like I stated on the other thread, his achievements are about on par with Glenn McCrory's.
Both won a vacant cruiserweight alphabet world title against a forgettable opponent.

 

Bit harsh on ricky,

Hatton was still 'the man' in his division at one point (regardless of how weak you rated the division)
won a unification fight
beat a living legend in kostya (regardless of how dirty it was)

even coming up in the domestic scene he had to beat a very game/tough thaxton for his british title where has its been stated before Bellew has claimed a vacant title at every stage of his career.

also theres also a bit of a difference between pacquiao and mayweather as in two of the best boxers of this generation and in most top 50 ATG lists- to loses of stevenson, cleverley and usyk (although usyk can still go down as a HOF all time great)

I get what you mean though but at least ricky beat something like 5 world champs in his career and never got beat by the likes of nathan cleverly (im not classing his comeback fight lol)

 

Hatton was legit.
Certainly wasn't as good as the hype behind him but he was legit world champion at 140 and defended the title a few times.

 

Just because a fighter can boil down to a weight it doesn’t mean they can carry power or punch resistance at it. Fighting at light heavy was stupid in hindsight but he did well getting himself into positions to fight for a world title. He was a cruiserweight all day long. So yeah, he lost a close decision to Cleverly and got leathered off Stevenson but let’s have some context. He disadvantaged himself and they did not fight the best version of him.

People are gonna downplay everything he’s achieved and that’s fair enough it’s just their opinion but I personally believe it’s because they just can’t take him to him or the matchroom hype around him (which I understand).

 

You can make excuses for him at light-heavy all you want, for whatever reason, the fact remains that his achievements at cruiserweight are thin. He won a vacant world title belt and made one weak defence. The number of boxers who do that are numerous. Yes it is an acheivement but I wouldn't count that as the stuff of a legitimate world champion. If he had fought at cruiserweight from day one there's a good chance he would have lost a few more anyway.

 

Agreed.

Hatton was world class, but not elite, as proven by his KO defeats to arguably 2 of the greatest fighters in history.

Bellew has never been world class and his CV is proof of that.

 

I’m not offering excuses bud just offering explanations. It’s his own daft fault, he was stupid for boiling down like that. He paid for it but at the same time he overachieved at that weight when you take those factors into consideration. He got himself into world title fights whilst at the same time going to ridiculous lengths to boil down.

Some boxing fans will always downplay his achievements, as they do with Hatton, Calzaghe, Bruno etc However, they all go down as world champions who will leave a lasting legacy.

 

Calzaghe - an elite fighter that was probably better than people thought but fighting Peter Manfredo types and a shot Roy Jones Jnr etc downplays his ability and CV.

Frank Bruno - anyone who does not love Big Frank is not a UK boxing fan.

Hatton - was frustrated himself fighting too many similar standard fighters before his World Championship attempt. Too many training camps, fights and poor living caught up with him against Fraud and Fanny. Left everything he had in the ring every fight and a great ride for boxing fans.

Bellew's legacy is conning PPV mugths in conjunction with Toe Productions and his career is probably seen as even below non elite World Champions such as Ricky Burns.

Bellew had the gift of the gob, rehearsed WWE acting skills and loved his own voice - has he delivered any more in the ring than the likes of James de Gale, Anthony Crolla, Rocky Fielding, Lee Selby and Scott Quigg?

Never been a fan of Bellew and seen through all his bull years ago.

Would not be surprised if he is even more deceitful outside the ring and he should maybe bite the bullet, get on one knee and pop the question to David Haye.