How does Tony Bellew beat Usyk?

Prince Naseem’s prediction on this was brilliant. Think it was after Usyk v Gassiev, asked whether Bellew stood a chance against Usyk he said something along the lines of “of course he does, he will knock him out. Hes the bomber isn’t he”.

 

Getting really excited for this fight. I know many on here can’t stand him but I’ve been an admirer of Bellew’s (inside the ring) work for a number of years now and this is looking like his last fight. I really hope he can shock people on Saturday and finally earn the respect that I feel he deserves from the section of boxing fans who seem to rubbish everything he does.

Usyk has the superior boxing skills, and whilst the likes of Gassiev, Briedis, Huck’s etc are excellent at what they do, you can pretty much attribute a style to them and I don’t think they veer too far away from that approach. However, I would argue that Bellew fights differently depending on his opponents attributes. We’ve seen him get the wins in very different ways. It doesn’t always look great but he finds a way to win. His adaptability, his ring IQ and power can make this a very difficult night’s work for Usyk.

The pressure is on Usyk. Box Bellew’s head off and he’ll get closer to Joshua. Struggle to put him away and people will have no desire to see that fight. So in a way, this is how it was for Haye in the first fight...put Bellew away and you get Joshua. Usyk has to force it, take chances, only a stoppage will do imo...and that’s Bellew’s chance of winning.

GO ON BELLEW LAD!!!

 

Much of this is false. He was 50-50 against Cleverly 2 and Makabu, and a good favourite against Masternak.

An example of how people believe their own BS.

 

But is he a better boxer than Bellew? Im not so sure.

 

Yep, this whole 'always written off' narrative is absolute nonsense. It's purely the Haye fights where he was a significant underdog. He might have been against Stevenson too but he was absolutely wiped out then. As is the 'always finds a way to win' because at times, he hasn't found a way to win at all.

 

Sky are brilliant at pushing the narrative, not just in boxing, i dont like to use the comparison but their coverage is very similar to how WWE push narratives.

In regards to Bellew, how many genuine top 10 wins does he have? 2 maybe? Now how many genuine top 5 wins does he have? Zero.

Bellew has worked hard but, Adonis aside, has he ever fought above his level?

 

My head says he's going to have his head boxed off for 12 rounds as Usyk comes at him from each and every angle imaginable and then some.

Then I see an interview with Tony and I begin to wonder if there is some miracle approach that he's come up with and that just maybe he could pull it off. This despite all the resume and performance evidence to the contrary.

He may well be better at making people believe he can win than he's ever actually been at fighting.

 

At Cruiser he's got Makabu and Masternak. I can't recall the ratings at the time to be honest but I would guess they were anywere from 15-8 in most rankings, which is fine, perfectly decent. But that really is it. Clev perhaps but he never done a damn thing of any note at the weight so I'm hesitant to include him.

At LHW, again I can't recall the rankings but I would imagine Chilemba being in or around the top 10 at least.

So you're pretty much right, especially in the top 5 part.

 

Make of it what you will but Dave Haye was ranked 3rd with the IBF at the time of the first Bellew fight. As we know, most had Haye down to train wreck Bellew so I would argue that that was an example of him fighting above his level and beating a top 5 fighter (on paper).

I’m not saying that you said this mate, but there was the majority on here who said Haye was gonna blast him...Bellew then beat him and the victory was dismissed and attributed to injury. Then in the second fight the majority once again had Haye to right the wrongs and stop Bellew. Bellew once again stops him and once again the same people saying he was gonna lose then say that he only won cos Haye was a cripple. Doesn’t seem fair to me, that. Should he pull off the impossible it’s guaranteed people will say that Usyk was overrated or whatever.

I’m not saying he’s this amazing P4P fighter, but I think Bellew deserves more credit than he gets from us boxing fans.

 

I hear you Twenty, but at the same time you can't ignore Haye's injury in the first fight. And you can't ignore how slow, cumbersome and shop worn he looked in their second fight. I still thought that Haye's power would be enough to see Bellew off, but it wasn't, clearly. He deserves some credit but I think considering Haye as a top 10 never mind top 5 HW at the time is totally inaccurate.

Whereas if he somehow does it against Usyk, there can't be an excuse. It's clear he's an elite fighter. Usyk hasn't been retired for years, hasn't been injured recently and is coming off of a career best performance. None of which can be applied to Haye.

 

Yeah people are stupid though! haha

I said before the first fight that IF its the Haye of old then he bangs Bellew out and i would still stand by that statement. Fact is it wasnt anything near to the Haye of old but Bellew seems to be getting the credit as if it was.

If he beats Usyk then nobody can deny that but lets be honest Bellew, if he really had the confidence he would beat Usyk then he would have entered and won the WBSS. He didnt and made around the same in 2 fights that Usyk made for winning it. He took the path of least resistance basically.

 

I can't wait for this either. I think Bellew is very underrated and gets a hard time from fans even when they are from the UK. He has a great boxing brain and knows his opponents weaknesses and exploits them. I know this is going to be a massive struggle against one of the best P4P boxers however if he does achieve the impossible then I hope the fans which are knocking him will give the credit he deserves and not just make excuses like Usyk isn't the fighter we all thought he was.
I am lucky enough to have a ticket for this event and I for one will be cheering Bellew on to achieve a lifetime dream. Let's get behind the British fighter and create an unbelievable atmosphere to hopefully match the occasion. C'mon Bellew!

 

Agreed mate. I thought he looked dreadful in them 2 warm up fights and disagreed strongly with the ranking. I do think if he had fought a more respectable heavy footed lump of a heavyweight instead of Bellew he could have disguised his deficiencies and would still be active today imo. He believed Bellew would be a soft touch but he was lighter, more mobile and brought speed up from cruiserweight. Stylistically, it was the wrong fight that exposed his declining athleticism.

It did make me chuckle hearing Whyte offering him a fight after he ‘beats’ Chisora. Ironically, when I think of respectable but heavy footed lumps, I think of Whyte and could see Haye being capable of landing some big shots on him.

 

I'm British but i want Usyk to win, purley so he can move up and get the big fights as I'm intrigued how he would get on.

Enjoy the match though mate! Very jealous.

 

It was the sensible option though wasn’t it bud. Join the WBSS and go life and death with unknown (to casual fans) but brilliant fighters or have one huge money spinning fight (there was no rematch clause) that will set you up for life and you can pretty much retire from. Try and put that option to your missus and see if she wants you to fight for your legacy for potentially small money