By Edward Chaykovsky
This past Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew may have become the new money man of the heavyweight division.
In what is a huge upset, Bellew shocked oddsmakers by stopping heavily favored former two division champion David Haye in eleven rounds of action.
After the fight was over, Bellew called for a world title shot at heavyweight - against WBC world champion Deontay Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs).
Wilder was recently ordered by the World Boxing Council to make a mandatory defense against Bermane Stiverne. The sanctioning body might allow an extension if Wilder submits a request or there could be a step-aside fee worked out as well. Wilder defeated Stiverne, by twelve round decision, in January 2015 to capture the WBC belt.
According to Wilder's promoter, Lou DiBella, they would be very interested in giving Bellew a crack at the world title. DiBella does admit that their first option would be to face WBO world champion Joseph Parker in a unification - should Parker defeat Hughie Fury in May.
"We're not adverse to considering Tony Bellew," DiBella exclusively told Sky Sports. "We congratulate Bellew. I'm a big fan of Tony's. It's not something we would write off. We respect him and it would certainly be something we would be interested in."
"A Joseph Parker fight would be the most desirable fight for Deontay next anyway, but you have to look at other alternatives. A fight with Deontay and Tony would certainly be of interest. I just like Tony Bellew. He beat a guy who is a major player. Haye was a major player in the division and Tony beat him. Does he deserve it? As much as any other contender would. He's had a great win against a very highly thought of David Haye.
"He's also a guy that has got himself some attention. Being in that film doesn't hurt him. He's gone out there and become someone that is well known and he just had a great victory in the ring, where he showed a lot of heart. We've got nothing but respect for Tony Bellew."