Bellew and Cleverly double header

[handsofstone]

So saturdays show in Liverpool is obviously to build up the rematch between Clev and Bomber providing both come away with the W,which should be a formality

Just having a look at their opponents record's,Tony opponent,Julio Cesar Dos Santos has a decent record (statistically)and is a heavy puncher by the looks of it and has a KO win over Rogelio Omar Rossi who challenged Marco Huck for the WBO a couple years ago and hasn't been stopped in both his defeats so i would expect him to ask Tony a few questions,maybe similar to Brudov

Nathans opponent,Alejandro Valori on the other hand is less than stellar,been KO'd a few times including a first round KO loss in his debut,not pretty reading,should be another Cleverly blow out,similar to Corbin

Rocky Fielding and Callum Smith look to be in competitive fights too plus the Olympians, should be good

I dont know why Tony's being matched tougher than Nathan though,both got stopped badly and its Cleverly whose the former world champ,surely they should be getting matched against near identical opposition

Any idea yet if its on Red Button?

[MarkMcBurney]

Cleverly looked awful in his first bout at CW IMO, at least Bellew had a bit of pop, Clev had nothing.

[JimJim2009]

Don't think its on red button, sky are saying its a long live show from 7pm, with 8 live fights. I think its just a "normal" sort of show instead of getting a peak at the u/c via the red button

[keirw]

From what I can gather Eddie wants the rematch to be final eliminator for the WBO strap so has had to match both men with top 15 ranked opposition.
He naturally found the two cheapest and decided to give the more difficult of the two to Bellew, I assume, because he is a little bit more battle hardened.
Though, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Bellew has asked Eddie to give him the tougher match just so he has a bit more ammunition to use on Cleverley in the build up to the rematch

[nitro5912]

Didn't eddie say on ifl that the reason for cleverly having different types of opponents is that his loss to kovelev done a lot more damage than bellows to Stevenson?

I think he has a point. Clev defended his world title and got a pasting in front of his home fans who expected him to win, bellew fought away, had no expectation and was the underdog big time just proving he couldn't live with stevensons power.

Tony's rebuild isn't as hard as clevs, a bit like groves I expect clev to be fed a couple of 'easier' fights to gain the confidence

[ste1983]

Mismatchroom at its best this card

[sweetscience]

is anyone really interested in the rematch

now they have both been beat handily its abit of a none event

[Bard of Boxrec]

Mismatchroom at its best this card

Mismatchroom! I honestly have never heard that one before. Totally serious.

[bripez]

I am not bothered either way.

Assuming both win their next fights, Bellew will be talking it up as if a rematch will be another Rumble in the Jungle (or Bellew will probably call it Rat in a Car Park or something similar).

Clev has had a good career and looks as though he should (and wants) to retire.

Bellews gob writes cheques that he cannot cash.

It is a bit boring now ..... I would like to see Bellew -v- McKenzie (with Mckenzie given a date, time to prepare, and a neutral ref / judges).

[sweetscience]

It's like the boxing equivalent of Saturdays 3rd place World Cup game

Good undercard fight but it defo doesn't need a card to promote THE card

[black panther]

Julio Cesar Dos Santos has a decent record (statistically)and is a heavy puncher by the looks of it and has a KO win over Rogelio Omar Rossi who challenged Marco Huck for the WBO a couple years ago

He's never fought Rossi mate; don't know where you got that one from.

Dos Santos best win is over journeyman Farias (25-14) who gets ko'ed early by every half decent crusierweight he fights (Rossi, Garay, Arslan etc.). He's about the same level as Cleverly's opponent on paper.

Santos does appear durable though, so not a bad fight for a second fight at crusier.

[Finch]

Bellew's bitter, hard man persona is so tired and boring.

Hope he gets sparked.

[handsofstone]

Julio Cesar Dos Santos has a decent record (statistically)and is a heavy puncher by the looks of it and has a KO win over Rogelio Omar Rossi who challenged Marco Huck for the WBO a couple years ago

He's never fought Rossi mate; don't know where you got that one from.

Dos Santos best win is over journeyman Farias (25-14) who gets ko'ed early by every half decent crusierweight he fights (Rossi, Garay, Arslan etc.). He's about the same level as Cleverly's opponent on paper.

Santos does appear durable though, so not a bad fight for a second fight at crusier.

Your right mate,it was Valori who fought him and got KO'd,id been looking at both Bellew and Cleverly's opponents record and got mixed up

[ScottDetonator]

Not one competitive fight on the card this evening!

Tony Bellew is the best valued favourite and he is 1-16.

How can Matchroom put cards like this on Sky and get away with it?

I'm betting Bellew v Cleverly is a PPV event, with Joshua on it against someone like Sprott and with a couple of lads in final, final eliminators... It's becoming very boring. I'm even finding Ringside a tough watch.

At least we should have a 50/50ish main event at the end of a long boring, one sided card like this... You could virtually record it, skip through it and watch Joshua v Skelton and be done with the whole event in 35 mins.

[rio]

Not one competitive fight on the card this evening!

Tony Bellew is the best valued favourite and he is 1-16.

How can Matchroom put cards like this on Sky and get away with it?

I'm betting Bellew v Cleverly is a PPV event, with Joshua on it against someone like Sprott and with a couple of lads in final, final eliminators... It's becoming very boring. I'm even finding Ringside a tough watch.

At least we should have a 50/50ish main event at the end of a long boring, one sided card like this... You could virtually record it, skip through it and watch Joshua v Skelton and be done with the whole event in 35 mins.

Good point....whos job is quality controll in sky? As he should be fired because this card is utter tosh. Every matchroom fighter will win, not one 50/50 fight. Sad thing is some people think its a good card because it has big names on it and some how that is more important than competitive fights.

[polecateddy]

Boxing News rightly called this bill rather shoddy, and harking back to the bad out days effectively.

[macaca]

I thought you were supposed to carb up after the weight in Tony ................. tut tut

[ShadrachSimmo]

Boxing News rightly called this bill rather shoddy, and harking back to the bad out days effectively.

They've pretty much called it as it is.

Woeful matchmaking. Rocky fielding is the only one I can see maybe slipping up.

[handsofstone]

I think Bellew fight looks competitive on paper and Gonzalez should give Fielding a fight,there is a lot of talent on the bill its just a shame more of the fights arent competitive

It could have something to do with the fact that the Olympians are an early stage of their career,so they've got gimmes,although you could argue with their amateur pedigree they could be matched tougher but Skelton's still tough for 60 odd year old,Campbell's been inactive,Stephen Smith's having a warm up before hopefully challenging for world honours in the new season,hopefully in 18 months time the majority of Matchrooms stable are all at title level

Cleverly's opponent looks shocking though

[crusader]

Bellew's fight does not look competitive if you check his opponent's record rather than looking just at his numbers. Like many Brazilians, padded, padded, padded, with a convincing loss in his lone bout against a contender.

I'm not a fan of 'showcase' bills like this. All the talent in the world means little to me if it's on one side of the lineup.

[handsofstone]

Bellew's fight does not look competitive if you check his opponent's record rather than looking just at his numbers. Like many Brazilians, padded, padded, padded, with a convincing loss in his lone bout against a contender.

I'm not a fan of 'showcase' bills like this. All the talent in the world means little to me if it's on one side of the lineup.

Yep i had a look through Dos Santos's record and didnt recognize anyone but it doesn't mean he cant fight and although Bellew's fought at a higher level,he hasnt won so it could be competitive,Dos Santos looks a banger at least so hopefully he brings his A game and makes Tony work for the win

I do wish Bellew would stop going on about Cleverly though,he's sounding a bit desperate

[Tarkus]

This is the card of the future prospects. I like to watch these guy progress and this card provide step up fights, Fielding, Callum Smith and Joshua. I dont mind if there are no 50/50s I still like the card and will watch it with interest.

BTW I believe Brazilian guy will give Bellew problems. He is a super defensiveness fighter and I see it going all 12 rounds. Could be boring.