Bellew: I'm The Biggest Name at Cruiser, Now I'm Being Hunted
By Terence Dooley
Tony Bellew (27-2-1, 17 KOs) has confirmed that he will return to action in October following his successful title winning effort over the much-fancied Ilunga Makabu at Everton’s Goodison Park in May.
“I’ll be fighting in October, in Liverpool, so I’ll be coming home so just get ready,” he said when speaking to Sky Sports News HQ.
BJ Flores is an option, he recently Tweeted a message of intent to the 33-year-old. With David Haye also a possibility, Bellew has plenty to think about before nailing down his next outing.
“His mouth gets carried away with itself,” he added when Sky asked him about Flores. “I like to refer to him as the ‘Nightclub Queen’, Mr. Flores is, but I’m not that bothered by him. He’s a mouthpiece who’s made himself known since I won the green and gold belt.
"Maybe it could be the ‘Nightclub Queen’—although I wish I was fighting his mate (David Haye) instead, the fella from Bermondsey, but we’ll see. There’s a bit of negotiation to be done. We’ve got to dot the t’s and cross the I’s and get through things that way.”
Bellew is finding out that the saying “Heavy is the head that wears the crown” has a great deal of truth to it as he is now a marked man in the 200lbs division.
“For so long I was the hunter, now I’m the hunted and they’ll be coming for me,” he said when speaking to BoxingScene about his new position.
“I feel like I’ve been hunted since I got to this division because I’m the biggest name. The other names are people no one wants to fight, they’re all killers. I’ll always feel hunted in this division, they’ve been calling me out from day one and now have good reason to as I have the belt.”
“Bomber” recovered from an early knockdown, regrouped and then took the fight to his opponent before sealing the deal with a third-round KO. It was his third world title attempt—the other two came down at 175lbs against Nathan Cleverly (L 12) and Adonis Stevenson (L TKO 5) respectively—and he couldn't contain his excitement when the fight was waved off.
“He usually starts slowly, but the coach [Dave Coldwell] said he’d start faster than usual,” Bellew told me when running his eye over the performance.
“Dave prepared me for it by telling me to engage in a fire fight but to be smart about it. Makabu usually comes out, lies on the ropes and has a look at you. He tried to do that with me until I nailed him with a punch. Give me a free shot on the ropes and I’ll knock you out: heavyweight, cruiserweight—it doesn’t matter who you are. I’ll punish and hurt you.
“In fact, I felt I was hurting him every time I connected with a good punch, which is why I put the pressure on the way I did. I could see it in his face. He’s a cocky fighter, there’s a certain arrogance to him that all great fighters have. He laughed and smiled when he knocked me down, you can see it as he goes back to the corner, but he never anticipated how hard I punch.”
He added: “I told him in the press conference before the fight that he had no idea how far I was willing to go, and I showed him on the night. I’m one of the most destructive punchers in the division, I’ve shown that by doing what I’ve done.
“I always knew I had that power, only two out of seven fights at cruiserweight have gone the distance (with me), [Mateusz] Masternak and [Nathan] Cleverly, who just lay there on the ropes and covered up, which anyone in the world can do if they’re a top-level professional. I had Masternak out on his feet, I’d have stopped him too if it wasn’t for the bell.”
Bellew boiled himself down to 175lbs for too long in a bid to work his WBC rating and get a shot at the title that he simply refers to as the “Green and gold belt”. With each passing fight, though, more and more vitality and energy ends up in puddles on the gym floor until you go to the ring as a shadow of your former self.
Punch power, resistance, stamina and other key factors are all sacrificed on the scales if you stay at the wrong weight for too long. Some fighters stepped up at the wrong time—Jamie Moore’s move to middleweight came far too late in his career—yet Bellew feels he got out at just the right time.
“Look back at me at 175 and look at me at 200,” he argued. “The 175 version of me looks like it’s been in a concentration camp. The 200lb version of me looks like a healthy specimen who wants to fight and enjoys it. I haven’t got a bodybuilder’s physique—that’s not me—but I am comfortable and very, very powerful when I get off the scales at 200.”
Often derided online for a self-belief that is perceived as extreme arrogance, Bellew put a few people right post-fight; he insists that his confidence carried him forward even when others, including family members, felt he would have been better suited to a different career.
“My mother said I’d be too soft for boxing and encouraged me to stick with football,” he admitted. “My dad always encouraged me and my Nan always supported me, but it’s down to you, you keep pushing and keep to your own beliefs. No one believed in me more than I believed in myself. I made it happen. I know how good I am, what I can do, so I never doubted myself.”
With a world title comes great responsibility, such as deciding which silk PJs to don on any given night. Has Bellew fallen foul of the complacency and extravagances that Marvin Hagler said separates title-holders from Champions.
“No silk pyjamas, son”, he answered, “I’m still sleeping bollocko.”
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