Tony Bellew vs. Edison Miranda

How badly hurt was he, again?

Not a tenth as bad as Miranda was by American domestic journeyman Allan Green.

Hurt by Howard Eastman, too.

KTFO a few times...

Can't recall that any of that's true of Bellew. :think

Against McKenzie, those are called flash knockdowns. Are you one who thinks Gamboa has a glass jaw?

 

:deal

Should that fail to materialize (that is, should Cleverly make himself scarce ) a next best option might be to continue the trend of progressing against ranked international opposition to raise his global profile and enhance his resume...such as the winner of another intriguing upcoming light heavyweight ten-rounder between Zsolt Erdei and Miranda's previous conqueror, Isaac Chilemba.

I'm not sure how the picture looks with their individual ratings by each org, but the winner of Bellew vs. Miranda taking on the winner of Erdei vs. Chilemba should IMO produce someone within a stone's throw of world title contention.

 

:good

If I was to boil it down to an exact prediction, this is pretty close to it.

 

We're 2/2 in total agreement.

 

Here's a spanner, though:

SayPantera hits the jackpot...what then, for either man?

For Miranda, maybe chase down winnable rematches to avenge some recent losses? He was down on my card but coming on strong against Despaigne before stupidly getting disqualified. He also forced the fight early against Chilemba and I wound up having it a draw thanks to him coming unraveled around the time they had their mutual point deduction. Or play it safe biding his time for a champ to try and add his name to their notchpost, knocking around a few cans in the meantime?

For Bellew, maybe some down-home comfort food to get his groove back? Someone British level but near the top of British level so that he can feel moderately proud of the achievement (but still without it being too risky). Maybe another go with Danny Mac, or try Dodson? If he's feeling extra spunky and the loss to Miranda wasn't too brutal...maybe even have a go at one of the youngbloods like Fielding, Dickinson or Jeffries?

 

Gun to my head, Bellew stops Miranda and Erdei has enough left to cruise to PTS victory against Chilemba.

This sets up a very attractive showdown, as neither is participating in an eliminator and therefore aren't on deck immediately for a title opp. They'd be the two men left standing in the upper echelon of 175 not either holding or directly contending for a belt, both coming off solid wins. It would be the fight to make and a great blend of styles.

It's also a pick-em. :think Zsolt's preservation of his skills into boxing antiquity vs. the "father time is undefeated" adage, where anybody can begin decomposing overnight (same reason Vitali and Hopkins fights carry a modicum of suspense heading in) really muddles the picture.