Tony Bellew Blew It

A lot of pressure for Tony to perform tonight. Tough fit that didn't go to plan. The knock down turned it. Credit to Bob, he weathered the early storm and he made it difficult.

Tony came through and got the win. Lasted 12 rounds comfortably.

Learning experience.

 

He wasnt great tonight but Ajisafe was a tough operator who I also greatly underestimated as I had £20 on a 1st round KO! It looked like maybe he was too eager to impress with a big knockout. I think we all know he is a lot better than that and it could do him a lot of good in the long run.

 

you missed a trick on the thread title, "tony bellew bellew it" come on

 

for the record i hope this is the fight that clicks it for him, he aint gonna be able to smash every guy out as he steps up, he needs to use his skills and undoubted pedigree to box and soften up oppentents then take them out

 

Em... ok...

 

Flea, you missed an opportunity for a tabloid style headline. You should have called this thread "Tony Bellew it" not "Tony Bellew blew it".

I didn't see the fight but it's probably best to have a performance like this early on in his career. 27 is not young in boxing but probably still young enough to learn a lot. A lot can change very quickly. Look at how the future looked for Khan after Prescott and how quickly things changed. Right now things probably look gloomy with Bellew but **** it, this **** happens and it's all about his attitude now. He seems like a good guy. Like I said I didn't see the fight so I dunno, maybe it was really bad but he can't afford to get down about it.

 

beat me to it

 

gutted though, had money on him knocking him out in 3

 

He wasn't exposed in anyway he just used the wrong tactics. All he was intrested in was the right hand.

 

I don't wonna completely trash Tony because we've all built up a bit of a fondness for him, but that performance was alarming on so many levels. He looked totally devoid of ideas, just looking to bomb the opponent out. If i'm totally honest parts of that were more alarming then if a guy got KO'd early, because he looked awful for so many rounds. He had KO in his mind from the get go and thats a mindset difficult to get out of. Dissapointing especially after he told us he wasn't gonna fall in love with his power, but all he seems to go on about is how hard he hits...well what if they don't fall over Tone? There were shades of Tony Jefferies in this performance.

I've been saying this for so long that young fighters today don't know how to work for a knockout due to inactivity, poor trainers and poor competition. Tony looked soo slow, he was just plodding forward throwing single predictable lead rights or hooks. No feints, no subtlety. Someone was arguing with me when i said he doesn't establish the jab enough and can't hook off it. Well, we saw that tonight. The lack of a basic set up was shocking!

He was getting hit with the same shots with his chin in the air. Ajisafe wasn't doing anything special, he was just in survival mode for most of the fight, but he was pivoting and circling and that simpliest of movement was totally confusing Bellew. That was the main concern for me, Ajisafe was not a typical Ingle fighter like everyone is saying, he was more conventional and was finding it easy to find Tony through the middle with straighter shots. If Bob was a Ingle style fighter then Tony would've got a KO, so people need to stop saying it was a Ingle style. He was a conventional southpaw.

He needs to go back to the drawing board. Work on how to draw opponents in and get them to walk into his shots. He needs to bend his knees, tuck his chin in and learn to punch in combinations. Theres a way you can break an opponent down and get a stoppage without hitting him with a money shot. He needs to get a jab from somewhere because he's going nowhere without one. He must learn fast!

I wish Tony all the best and i'll be rooting for him, he's a brillient lad with a good head on his shoulders and i'm sure he'll work hard on his serious flaws and be better for this.

 

i hear you...but this in some ways showed limitations as bad as getting chinned in the first round for me...he should have a positive mental attitude for each minute in there, he's a professional...trying for a big shot a few times a round was lazy, especially from him, we have seen enough of him to know he has got tools...but he had no bottle tonight, i know some disagree here but he just lay down mentally, and if thats how he's going to be when things dont go his way then no matter how well he can box he's still going to be fooked...he should have had concentration on his face, be tenacious, and box a lot more using combinations...
i dunno, he's better than that i thought..

 

Spot on.

12 tough rounds under his belt? Its only going to improve Bellew as a fighter. He got dragged into deep waters & survived, learned he cant do an Enzo Mac & load up with every shot, Bellew needed that experience.

I was half expecting Tony to sit ringside & come out with the age old excuse "I broke my hand early" but credit to the big lad, he just told it like it was.
That tells me hes mature enough to know EXACTLY what that fight was, he should really take it as a positive night that will make him better in the long run.

As for Cleverly? I really dont like the guy. Smug twat, getting his massive ego massaged by the SKY team all night & as a result spewing arrogance in the bucketful as the night went on, culminating in " I will never fight Bellew now, after THAT"

What a knob, who does this twat think he is? Peter Manfredo lookalike twat.

 

snap on the post before me....posting at the same time it seems

 

I can see why folk might suddenly call him a fraud. No doubt the hype has made him an easy target, and got up some people's noses - not to mention the ass licking on here.

They'd be very knee-jerk and well wide of the mark, though. I think all we learnt tonight was that Tony needed a reality check and to take a cold, hard look at himself. Perhaps six months of talking not fighting has lead to his getting a little complacent and under-estimating his opponents.

I certainly don't think he'll do that again. His wonderful response at the end showed that Bob had earned his respect. I expect him to come back harder, more determined and treat all his opponents with more respect in the future.

Would it be crazy to want him to rematch Bob? I'd be happy if he got on the October bill, maybe blow out some Afrobum and get his confidence back. The last thing he needs is to stew on it. Then get back to the gym and put the work in, tactily as much as anything. Then what about showing that he's a quick learner against Bob in December?

I think he'll come back from this. And I really hope he does too. It could be the best thing that happened to him. Better than get rushed into a big shot against Clev then get shown up for not having learnt against the intermediate quality fighters...just have a look at Mitchell; I doubt he'll recover from that.