I always thought that these two guys would have put on a phenomenal fight. I think most would take Jirov with his pressure and body punching but I'm actually leaning towards Bell. Bell had an absolute sledgehammer for a right hand and at somepoint I believe he would catch Jirov with. How do you guys see this fight between two of the more fan friendly Cruiserweight champs? One thing is for sure, this fight would not be for the faint of heart and I could see both of them hitting the deck in this one.
good fight. I like Bell. Just zero head movement from Jirov. always at 12 o'clock. And always walking in applying the pressure. Sooner or later he is going to get hit clean with a right hand he never see's. And countered by right hands when Jirov is throwing those body punches. But it may have to happen by like the 7th round. After that, the body work from Jirov will pay off. Big time---I don't consider Bell a guy good at absorbing sustained body shots. I just don't see the Jirov defense making it that far without getting clipped. Fun fight to watch.
This would be a war. Both can definetely take a punch and know how to dish out. I favour Jirov in a hard fought 12 round decision. I think. as an olympic gold medalist, he has the superior boxing skills.
I would agree with you on Jirov being the more skilled. I have only seen his 96' amateur fights in Atlanta but I have read that he was at one point a very slick fighter as an amateur. You can kind of see it in his early pro fights but it's almost like he regressed as a boxer when he won the Cruiserweight belt. He simply fought more as swarmer and looked to break dude down with his hellacious body punching. Bell had no where near the pedigree but he had a great naturally hard right hand and a hell of a fighting spirit. His fights with Concrete Davis and Mormeck are just flat out wars. Unfortunately it seems like he is kind if a forgotten guy. Sucks because he fought with so much heart and desire.
Jirov was the more skilled man but frequently fought a dumb fight in the pros, just trusting to his ability to absorb punishment and dish it out without much thought for anything else. If he tried that with Bell he might find himself taking a punch he can't handle and Bell was pretty good at finishing off injured opponents. If he plays it smart and picks his shots I can see him outworking or even stopping Bell.
You are entitled to your opinion but I don't know how you can say he would destroy him. Bell beat Arthir William's twice, Jean Marc Mormeck, Sellers, Brown, Robinson and Concrete Davis (prime Davis, not the guy that fought with a broken neck). I don't begrudge anyone that thinks Jirov would win. I believe Jirov would be the favorite but Bell would make him work for it and would not be an easy out.
Yeah maybe I was being a bit harsh. It won't be that easy but I still give Bell zero chance of winning.
Yeah, Bell was a very underrated CW. People want to big up Haye's paper thin CW reign by talking about how he managed to KO Mormeck and unified the division, but Bell did exactly the same a couple of years earlier and wasn't knocked down by Mormeck in the process. That's literally Haye's only good win at CW, and Bell topped it. Not to mention his other good wins at CW> Make this thread Jirov vs Haye and a ton of people would be picking Haye that wouldn't give Bell a chance. People need to educate themselves on Bell's career. He was an excellent fighter.
I agree 100%. Honestly, Bell's wins at Cruiserweight are as impressive if not more that Jirov's. Bell was a very real guy. The wheels really started to come off after the 2nd Mormeck fight which is one the more grueling, physical fights in the division's history. I remember the guys calling the fight talking about how it was in the upper 90's in the ring that night. Mormeck and Bell really took a lot out of each that night.
You could argue without that fight Mormeck might never have lost to Haye and Bell might not have lost to Adamek. It took a ton out of both of them, mentally and physically. Bell actually quit against Adamek, which would have been unthinkable a few years before.
Bell was a warrior. I liked how he fought.The way he stood his ground, yet sill remained calm under pressure. Good fight with Mormeck.
I wonder if Bell was suffering from CTE or some sort of brain injury. I remember how he had issues with Dizziness before the Adamek fight that he attributed to making weight but he also seemed to have some erratic behavior issues. I know he once threw an axe at a sparring partner and a lot of trainers quit working with him late in his career because he could he quite moody and unreliable. He took a lot of damage in his career as did Jirov. Both of them were not the best defensively which is why they would have been such a great fight together.
