Has Bellew been the same since.....

[stujones]

Ovill McKenzie first time around. Rematch to that one he talked a big game and then elected to box and fought a "tactical masterclass". However, reality is since the McKenzie fight he has been a lot more cautious.

Then he had a few opponents that he couldn't get up for, got the fight he wanted - assured us of an execution of Cleverly but ended up boxing smart (boxed very well in first fight) but did not take it to Clev as he assured the fans he would.

A very decent showing against McIntosh aside, he's been much more negative and cautious about his work rate post McKenzie. Two pretty disappointing displays against Chilemba and then a rather poor effort against Stevenson, promising fireworks and always being in great fights but then stating it was always tactical to go rounds and take over at the stretch - problem was he didn't make Stevenson work that hard in the opening few rounds, so Stevenson was always going to have plenty of gas left.

Then it was that he was dead at the weight - fair enough, move up..... I would say for the biggest fight of his career he puts in his worst performance in a televised fight. Clev was for the taking after 8 and the fact was the fight wasn't even close to being stopped. Clev fought one handed and nearly won the fight. Oh so it was a long camp now - as far as I am aware, there was no postponement of the fight etc, so that's really no excuse.

[Ezzard]

Honestly, I didn’t have it close. I know Tony was missing a lot but apart from the odd sneaky right hand up close Nathan just seemed to be flicking out his left hand. I kept asking myself, “Can I give that round to Nathan?” And I tried to argue with myself to find a reason to give him rounds. But rarely did I feel confident about giving him any round.

Nathan has a great left hook to the body but he hardly threw it.

On the ropes, every time Tony missed with a right he was wide open. And a couple of sharp counters would have had him going. Nathan was, at times trying to time the shot, but he never threw the counter. I can’t help think that Nathan is much better than the performance he put in on Saturday.

I think there were nerves on both sides and this drained them both very quickly.

I’m sure both men would be better at 175.

[King Tubby]

Wouldn't he have got some rounds, Ezzard, because even though they were only light flicks, they were landing whereas Tony wasn't landing anything for a few of the early rounds? I was giving him rounds for that reason, even though I'd rather have given them to Tony for trying to be aggressive and make a fight out of it.

[johnswan1]

Cleverly did not appear motivated to win and did not carry confidence in himself as a Cruiser. He would be better off going back down to Light Heavy if he still wants to be in the sport, which is something I doubt. He is too small as a Cruiser.

Bellew on the other hand is nowhere near as good as he thinks, or thought he was. It was a terrible version of Clev, and at a weight that handed a big advantage to Bellew, but he still couldn't put his man away.

I do hope Bellew has another world title challenge, but only so that he gets put in his place. Unfortunately Stevenson never had the chance to do that because Tony turned his back on him when he was unable to take any more.

Bellew may have some satisfaction out of winning and most importantly getting the pay day, but on watching the tape back he will surely be thinking twice about his prospects against the best in the division.

[Ezzard]

Wouldn't he have got some rounds, Ezzard, because even though they were only light flicks, they were landing whereas Tony wasn't landing anything for a few of the early rounds? I was giving him rounds for that reason, even though I'd rather have given them to Tony for trying to be aggressive and make a fight out of it.

Yes, I did give him 2 rounds...maybe 3...and if I watched it back who knows...but I didn't see it as a close fight.

I think Bellew got carried away with himself. I know he's catching a lot of flak lately but whatever you think of him he doesn't usually miss that much.

[Boxing Prospect]

Has he ever "been the same" since he fought Ajisafe? Could it be that his loud mouth actually lead people to believe he was world class when in reality he was little more than a European level guy with a hugely inflated opinion of himself?

[powderPuff]

What's wrong with just being European level ?

I know some boxers that would love to be at that level

no shame in that what so ever

Why is it most of the users on here assume that if you are not worl level you are a scrub

Totally unfair

[Boxerbeetle]

What's wrong with just being European level ?

I know some boxers that would love to be at that level

no shame in that what so ever

Why is it most of the users on here assume that if you are not worl level you are a scrub

Totally unfair

No-one's ever said there's any shame in being European level - just that a European level fighter shouldn't boast about being world class when they're obviously not.

[Tomasino]

What's wrong with just being European level ?

I know some boxers that would love to be at that level

no shame in that what so ever

Why is it most of the users on here assume that if you are not worl level you are a scrub

Totally unfair

No-one's ever said there's any shame in being European level - just that a European level fighter shouldn't boast about being world class when they're obviously not.

This ^

No shame at all, I often wonder why some fighters just don't try to make a good living defending the European and British titles, seems like they are just stepping stones to pay days and most often crushing defeats.

[stujones]

Has he ever "been the same" since he fought Ajisafe? Could it be that his loud mouth actually lead people to believe he was world class when in reality he was little more than a European level guy with a hugely inflated opinion of himself?

There is nothing wrong with being European Level at all.... but my point in my original post was European Level or not - since the McKenzie fight he has been a lot less aggressive, fighting almost with a concern about his stamina and chin that wasn't there before.

Macro Antonio Barrera was a fantastic fighter and had some of his greatest wins and performance post the Morales first fight, but you could argue that after that fight he changed and was no longer the aggressive fighter of old... fair enough, he got smarter and better because of it. However, for Bellew, he's a man who prior to McKenzie was labelling himself as Mr excitement, Mr KO etc and in reality, his most likely way of attain success at world level is to fight with an all action style and throwing his bombs.

After the Eubank loss, Nigel went through a period when he was no longer the Dark Destroyer and learned to box much smarter - it reaped him some success... e.g. Eubank 2. However, when needed to he did revert back to his old Dark Destroyer days. Bellew keeps mentioning that he will keep throwing bombs and he is Mr excitement.... the truth is, McIntosh aside, he hasn't been truly exciting since McKenzie (Cleverly 1 was a cracking fight, but Bellew did not fight as he told the fans he would).

[Dan Dares]

McKenzie would definitely be up for a third. Good fight.

[Boxing Prospect]

Has he ever "been the same" since he fought Ajisafe? Could it be that his loud mouth actually lead people to believe he was world class when in reality he was little more than a European level guy with a hugely inflated opinion of himself?

There is nothing wrong with being European Level at all.... but my point in my original post was European Level or not - since the McKenzie fight he has been a lot less aggressive, fighting almost with a concern about his stamina and chin that wasn't there before.

Macro Antonio Barrera was a fantastic fighter and had some of his greatest wins and performance post the Morales first fight, but you could argue that after that fight he changed and was no longer the aggressive fighter of old... fair enough, he got smarter and better because of it. However, for Bellew, he's a man who prior to McKenzie was labelling himself as Mr excitement, Mr KO etc and in reality, his most likely way of attain success at world level is to fight with an all action style and throwing his bombs.

After the Eubank loss, Nigel went through a period when he was no longer the Dark Destroyer and learned to box much smarter - it reaped him some success... e.g. Eubank 2. However, when needed to he did revert back to his old Dark Destroyer days. Bellew keeps mentioning that he will keep throwing bombs and he is Mr excitement.... the truth is, McIntosh aside, he hasn't been truly exciting since McKenzie (Cleverly 1 was a cracking fight, but Bellew did not fight as he told the fans he would).

I'm not saying their is anything wrong with being European level. I'm just wondering whether it was the Mackenzie fight or the Ajisafe fight that left him realising he couldn't just blast everyone away, the others could out box him and that he could be hurt. Prior to Ajisafe he seemed to have the mentality of "I'll knockout out anyone I hit". My complain is about his self inflated opinion of himself, not his level.

We're making a similar point I'm just wondering if it was a fight earlier than you ssuggested.

[Rexob]

What's wrong with just being European level ?

I know some boxers that would love to be at that level

no shame in that what so ever

Why is it most of the users on here assume that if you are not worl level you are a scrub

Totally unfair

True that.

[rd350lc]

McKenzie would definitely be up for a third. Good fight.

at light heavy or cruiser ? Bellew definitely won't come down
I wonder really what was wrong with Cleverley ? don't suppose the truth will ever out but really sad to see a shadow of his former self