By Edward Chaykovsky

This coming Saturday night, Tony Bellew (27-2-1, 17KOs) will defend his WBC cruiserweight title for the first time against BJ Flores (32-2-1, 20KOs) at the Echo Arena in Liverpool.

Only two men have defeated Flores in his career - Beibut Shumenov and Danny Green. The loss to Shumenov was viewed as controversial but the outcome with Green was pretty clear cut.

Green won a twelve round decision over Flores in Perth in 2010, when they battled for the IBO cruiserweight title.

Green says Flores has every attribute that a boxer needs - except balls. He say Flores can box, has a very good chin and he's physically strong. The attribute of having balls, says Green, will be the difference in the upcoming fight with Bellew.

“He’s got every attribute a boxer could want except one ... balls,” said Green to the Liverpool Echo. “He’s big, can box, has got a good chin - I caught him with some big shots, make no mistake - and he’s very strong.

“Look, it takes balls to get in the ring in the first place, but real balls, what every true fighter has, he doesn’t have them. A real fighter, someone like Bellew, is willing to get knocked out to win. Flores would sooner settle for a points loss and live to fight another day and keep his TV commentary career going.”

He told the paper that Flores is a poser, someone who likes to have the image of being a boxer when in fact he is more concerned with his career as a TV commentator.

“He’s a survivor, who loves having this image of being a boxer,” Green said. “Who has he beaten to get this fight? It’s because he’s a TV commentator who is on social media. And in a way, good luck to him.

“I’ll give you a tale that sums him up. I helped (Sydney based) Jamie Te Huna prepare for UFC a few years ago. It was a bit of training but more mental preparation, so he’d know what to expect on a big occasion. Anyway, I’m walking around the MGM and I see Flores a mile off. He’s got about six women hanging around him and he’s loving being the big star. I shouted to him “BJ” and went and said hello.

“Soon one of the girls asks something along the lines of, ‘Who’s this guy with the funny accent who knows you? Is he a fighter too?’ And BJ leans forward and says in the quietest voice imaginable, ‘Yes, he’s a fighter, too’ and nothing else. He didn’t have, what’s the word, the fortitude to say, ‘Yes, we had a fight and he beat me’

“I’ve been in Poland with Krzysztof Wlodarczyk and people have come over to us and I said, ‘Yes, this guy knocked me out in the 11th round but we knocked seven bells out of each other first’. BJ didn’t have it in him to say we’d fought and he lost. I could have told them but I left him to it. He’s an enigma. If you could put together a fighter with my mindset and his body and physical attributes, you’d conquer the world.”