Comments Thread For: Tony Bellew Ponders Move To The Cruiserweight Ranks

[daggum]

lol maybe there is a difference between fighting guys like cleverly and guys like stevenson and that's why you felt the shots?

[boxingfocus]

To be fair Bellew had a reputation as a debilitating puncher as an amateur.

Seems to have gone missing as a pro a little.

There's a big difference between having punching power in the amateur ranks - where you have head guards and the most talented hardly stick around - and the pro ranks where people hit back and hit back hard.

You can't have power moving like Bellew did. He doesn't sit down on his punches when he's in with somebody he is wary of. What is impressive about the top fighters like Stevenson, Kovalev is that they still commit to their punches. They use skill to make themselves hard to hit whilst in range, whilst setting up their own offense. Bellew simply hasn't the coordination to pull that off, and has been dropped by far lesser fighters.

He's totally deluded thinking that weight was the issue. Stevenson threw hard and Tony didn't see the shots coming. It doesn't matter what weight you are at, whether you struggled to make it or not, if you don't see a full blooded shot coming then it hurts. He's just not faced that kind of fire power before.

[anonymous2.0]

I actually didn't think Bellew had a bad strategy its just he didn't have the mental and physical abilities to pull it off.

[BattleAxePurist]

I actually didn't think Bellew had a bad strategy its just he didn't have the mental and physical abilities to pull it off.

Which was why it was a bad strategy.

[Jewish-Reptile]

I'm neither here or there with Bellew,but I thought for all the talk,all the antics and finally the spat at the weigh in.he had potentially set Stevenson up to bring him out of hs comfort zone,I really thought the best chance Bellew had was to get Adonis into a scrap,we knew the Canadian was sharper,slicker,quicker and generally indeed more accurate,coupled with that Bellew has issues with accuracy and Stevenson is exceptionally difficult to hit flush,I really thought Bellew knew his only chance of a win was to jump on him.it seems his gameplan was to allow Adonis to tire and hit him with the Hail Mary when he got too comfortable and win the fight by KO,Bellew put all his chips on one punch that simply never came and likely never was going to come as he clearly had trouble with every attribute Adonis attributed with.

The problem Bellew now has is,for all his talk,show of confidence he's been made to look,slow,weak,inaccurate and potentially mentally weak with such a poor and implemented game plan,which if I'm honest wasn't always destined to failure,it just needed Bellew to throw those malicious right hands he claimed he was saving for the Canadian.

Stevenson was never once made to respect Bellew,I felt his power was somewhat lacking.the game plan he had,hinged on a showcase of raw power from the right hand once Adonis tried to come in with the sharp fast right hand jab,Bellew never figured out the distance and timing to make Stevenson stop and think or simply drop him.

[Cleaver]

Always been a good talker has Tony Bellew. Seemed like he wanted to get Stevenson to empty his tank a bit so he could turn it on in the later rounds. Nice idea if he had the talent to carry it off. The guy telegraphs his punches like nobody's business. In contrast Stevenson mixes his attack up (see those cheeky right hand leads early on).

I'm quite ignorant to Shumenov's ability, but the other three major champions of Stevenson/Hopkins and Kovalev have LHW on lockdown.

I'm not sure if cruiser is the soft touch that all these guys think it is.

[Jewish-Reptile]

Always been a good talker has Tony Bellew. Seemed like he wanted to get Stevenson to empty his tank a bit so he could turn it on in the later rounds. Nice idea if he had the talent to carry it off. The guy telegraphs his punches like nobody's business. In contrast Stevenson mixes his attack up (see those cheeky right hand leads early on).

I'm quite ignorant to Shumenov's ability, but the other three major champions of Stevenson/Hopkins and Kovalev have LHW on lockdown.

I'm not sure if cruiser is the soft touch that all these guys think it is.

Agreed on a few counts here,as early as the second it was evident Bellew was waiting for this homes to tire,before letting the right go with frequency.he is being completely ignorant to the division if he believes he can make any real mark on it,under the right tutelage I'm backing Chakhkiev to clean that place out.then of course Stevenson could see the right hand coming before Bellew had thought about throwing it.

I suspect he is interested in rebuilding before pursuing a lucrative rematch with the Cleverly.

[Boxfan7819]

who cares... after headbutting and getting crazy at the weigh in then performs horribly come fight night this guy doesn't deserve to be televised

[Mikhnienko]

To bad for them cruiserweight is a very good division with punchers that are naturally bigger men. I don't see Bellew or Cleverly have anymore success by moving up.

These guys won't even get past the lower end contenders at CW.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

If only Bellew fought as good as he speaks. He's actually quite knowledgeable about the sport, shame he doesn't have the talent to implement it.