Tony Bellew Dedicates Fight To Darren Sutherland
By Terence Dooley
Tony ‘Bomber’ Bellew fights Nick Okoth at the Marriott Hotel, London on Friday night and the big-hitting Liverpudlian is dedicating his performance to Darren Sutherland. The eight-rounder is the headline act of the annual fight card put on by Frank Warren in aid of the DebRA charity, which works with people who suffer from the genetic skin blistering condition Epidermolysis Bullosa.
Bellew, 26, is making the right noises at light-heavyweight; he told BoxingScene.com that he is not taking Okoth for granted, despite his opponent having lost his last two outings.
“I know that he’s a tough, durable guy but I’m just concentrating on going in and doing what I usually do – getting guys out of there,” insisted Bellew.
“I’m on the weight, training has gone to plan and I’ve had eight weeks of hard graft. It is the first time I’ve fought on the DebRA Charity show but there won’t be any charity from me on the night.”
“I will go for the stoppage,” he stressed when asked for a prediction. “If Okoth trades early he’ll go early. He’s been cute in a few fights so if he is cute he could go longer, but he will go. I just do my job and don’t try to predict the result – I’ll just look for a stoppage and a good performance.”
Bellew has extra incentive to perform, the three-time ABA champion is dedicating this fight to the memory of Darren Sutherland, who died earlier this week. Bellew is a passionate fight fan; he had followed Darren’s career with interest and believed that Sutherland had all the ingredients needed to make it in the pro game.
“I’m dedicating this fight to the memory of Darren Sutherland,” he confirmed. “I’d spoken with him a couple of times and it is a terrible loss to the sport of boxing. It is very sad. He was the same age of me and had a very good career ahead of him. I want to win this fight for him and want to send out my condolences to his family.”
“I think Darren would have got to world title level,” continued Bellew. “He excelled in the amateurs as shown by his bronze medal at the Olympics last year. He had good power, good speed and ability as a pro; I feel he’d have moved into the titles. Walking right through to a world title.”
The fighter has had a single outing in 2009, a fourth-round TKO win over Blackpool’s Matthew Ellis in May. Bellew hopes to do a number on Okoth on Friday night in order to secure a spot on the Tony Quigley-Paul Smith British super-middleweight title fight undercard.
“I’m hopefully fighting on the undercard of Toney Quigley and Paul Smith’s fight at the Liverpool Echo Arena on October the thirtieth,” confirmed Bellew. “If that goes well I could possibly be out at the end of the year or early next year. I’ll keep my fingers crossed, do what I do, and I hope to come through this one unscathed so I can be on that Echo Arena bill.
“I love fighting in Liverpool, the last time I fought there [a points win over Jevgenijs Andrejevs last October] I made a few mistakes but I’ve learned a lot and grown up a bit since then. I’ll be doing things a little bit differently and with a different result – a knockout and an impressive performance.”
The Quigley-Smith contest should live up to the hype, and then some, the recent all-Liverpool title showdown between Quigley and Tony Dodson was one for the ages. Bellew is tentatively leaning towards Smith in this latest derby match-up.
“If I had to put money on I’d probably go with Smith,” he said. “It is going to be one hard fight and both will go for it but I’m leaning towards Smith at the moment.”
Bellew also has his own title dreams; he believes that he would present British and Commonwealth kingpin Nathan Cleverly with a tough test. Tony has called out the Welshman’s name in recent months.
“To be honest I’d take the fight, wherever and whenever,” reiterated Bellew. “I’m not Billy Boyle and I’m not Danny McIntosh – if he trades with me he’s going to sleep. I really do believe that I’m a different proposition than those other guys. I’ve got nothing to fear when it comes to Nathan Cleverly. I’ll be ready and waiting for whenever Frank says we’re going to do it.”
Tony has been frustrated for much of 2009; a hand injury forced him onto the sidelines for portions of the year. After having had five fights in 2008 the current year has seemed like slow torture for the boxing-obsessed Bellew; however, Tony believes that the guiding hand of Frank Warren will get him to where he needs to be, injuries permitting.
“I’d liked to have moved a bit quicker,” admitted Bellew, “but I’ve got the best promoter in the game and he knows what he’s doing with me. I’ve had nine fights in eighteen months and have only missed out on a few due to injuries. I’m injury-free now and have a fantastic team behind me. I’ve got Frank, Dean [Powell], Arnie [Farnell] and the team. We all do our jobs and as long as we do that we’ll come out on top.”
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