Tony Bellew vs. Ilunga Makabu - May 29th 2016

[wesshaw1985]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX_l-BtF34w

[Taansend]

Just looking at May 29th for the complete rundown of boxers and noticed that in Brazil, Vicky is making her debut.

Good luck Vicky

I'm assuming Vicky is a girl.

[kaiserbill]

They're fighting in Liverpool, FFS....
Makabu will have to KO Bellew to have any chance of winning.

[The Insider]

Makabu is half decent. Punches well with both hands but his defence his leaky. Tony will have to box well on the outside in my opinion as Makabu does well on the inside whipping in uppercuts and smashing the body (which is where I think he could hurt Tony). It's a well matched fight but I see Makabu winning by stoppage.

[gilgamesh]

Makabu is gonna kick Bellew's ass.

[gilgamesh]

They're fighting in Liverpool, FFS....
Makabu will have to KO Bellew to have any chance of winning.

18 Knockouts in 19 wins. Including fighters who take a shot better than Bellew. I like Makabu's chances of scoring the KO.

[handsofstone]

I havent seen much of Makabu but still have a feeling he's going to ruin Bellew's big day,stopping Johnson is no mean feat even if Glen's pushing 50,i just cant see Tony being able to take that sort of power especially up at Cruiser,he's really going to have to bring his A game if he's to stand a chance and use his boxing abilty to see it through to the end,whether he has the engine to see this through if Makabu's pouring it on looking for the the KO remains to be seen but somehow i kind of doubt it going on history

Bomber gets a lot of stick and when he's in fight mode he's a bit annoying,especially if Cleverly's there or gets a mention and he has flattered to decieve more than once but truth be told i quite like his passion and he's British so i'll be rooting for him all the way

[wesshaw1985]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ql5Q1-kl_o

[big lennox]

Good fight, looking forward to this. I reckon Bellew is coming into the form of his career and think he will win it.

[tobyh5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ql5Q1-kl_o

Watch at 22 min 30 secs onwards for two minutes. They both annoy me but that was fair play and made me laugh

[ttornado]

18 Knockouts in 19 wins. Including fighters who take a shot better than Bellew. I like Makabu's chances of scoring the KO.

[crusader]

This is a very interesting fight, and CW continues to be my favorite division.

I can see Bellew outboxing Makabu, but I can also see him getting his head taken off.

[ElJefe]

Looking at Bellew now I genuinely can't believe he was 175 for so long. Makabu definitely "carries power" and Bellew hasn't really fought a puncher at cruiserweight, but he has a more solid look about him than he did at light-heavy imo. Makabu hasn't fought anyone as big as Bellew at this level, Kucher is listed as 6'2 but looked more like 6'0/6'1 to me, think Bellew will definitely have a decent size advantage.

If Bellew can keep him at range I don't see why he couldn't beat him. Makabu is a bit strange though, tends to move his head rather than his feet, sometimes he slips 4 or 5 punches in a row and makes his opponent look silly, then he'll take a clean 3 punch combination.

[crusader]

Looking at Bellew now I genuinely can't believe he was 175 for so long. Makabu definitely "carries power" and Bellew hasn't really fought a puncher at cruiserweight, but he has a more solid look about him than he did at light-heavy imo. Makabu hasn't fought anyone as big as Bellew at this level, Kucher is listed as 6'2 but looked more like 6'0/6'1 to me, think Bellew will definitely have a decent size advantage.

If Bellew can keep him at range I don't see why he couldn't beat him. Makabu is a bit strange though, tends to move his head rather than his feet, sometimes he slips 4 or 5 punches in a row and makes his opponent look silly, then he'll take a clean 3 punch combination.

Bellew didn't look too solid (if you mean solid in terms of durability rather than build) when old Brudov put him on jelly legs. He hasn't fought anyone who is remotely close to being a puncher at CW, so it will be interesting to see how he takes Makabu's shots; if he does that well I think his chances of winning a decision are fairly good.

[ElJefe]

Looking at Bellew now I genuinely can't believe he was 175 for so long. Makabu definitely "carries power" and Bellew hasn't really fought a puncher at cruiserweight, but he has a more solid look about him than he did at light-heavy imo. Makabu hasn't fought anyone as big as Bellew at this level, Kucher is listed as 6'2 but looked more like 6'0/6'1 to me, think Bellew will definitely have a decent size advantage.

If Bellew can keep him at range I don't see why he couldn't beat him. Makabu is a bit strange though, tends to move his head rather than his feet, sometimes he slips 4 or 5 punches in a row and makes his opponent look silly, then he'll take a clean 3 punch combination.

Bellew didn't look too solid (if you mean solid in terms of durability rather than build) when old Brudov put him on jelly legs. He hasn't fought anyone who is remotely close to being a puncher at CW, so it will be interesting to see how he takes Makabu's shots; if he does that well I think his chances of winning a decision are fairly good.

Yeah I did mean in terms of durability. I'd completely forgotten about that round against Brudov actually. Low blow saved him if I remember rightly? Might be changing my pick now #WarMakabu

[Andrew]

Bellew is going to fight very negative IMO if he gets his own way it could be a boring fight.

I reckon Bellew will hold a lot and rarely be on the front foot.

If he is aggressive he'll get taken out.

I get the feeling there's gonna be a robbery on the cards in Bellews favour if Makabu doesn't stop him

[PredatorHayds]

Bellew is going to fight very negative IMO if he gets his own way it could be a boring fight.

I reckon Bellew will hold a lot and rarely be on the front foot.

If he is aggressive he'll get taken out.

I get the feeling there's gonna be a robbery on the cards in Bellews favour if Makabu doesn't stop him

To be fair Bellew is a far better Backfoot defensive fighter than a come forward knock out artist at world level.
If it's a boring fight Bellew wins. He's a good boxer with good pedigree.

[lefty]

18 Knockouts in 19 wins. Including fighters who take a shot better than Bellew. I like Makabu's chances of scoring the KO.

That's from his fight with Mchunu (probably spelt that wrong) right? How did you find that gif? The reason I ask, is I didn't know there was any footage of that fight on the internet!

[ElJefe]

18 Knockouts in 19 wins. Including fighters who take a shot better than Bellew. I like Makabu's chances of scoring the KO.

That's from his fight with Mchunu (probably spelt that wrong) right? How did you find that gif? The reason I ask, is I didn't know there was any footage of that fight on the internet!

I've been trying to find it all week.

[wesshaw1985]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MED3wytyH2k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3Btly2bxMo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7MsFHQc1w0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX6KOwKF4EA

[Cyril Henry Hoskin]

Looking at Bellew now I genuinely can't believe he was 175 for so long

Makabu looks rock solid and a natural cruiser, Bellew looks like an over fed 185/190lbs fighter, there will be huge difference in natural strength between them.

[skanksta]

Looking at Bellew now I genuinely can't believe he was 175 for so long

Makabu looks rock solid and a natural cruiser, Bellew looks like an over fed 185/190lbs fighter, there will be huge difference in natural strength between them.

He's quite short for a 'natural cruiser' ?

[Cyril Henry Hoskin]

He's quite short for a 'natural cruiser' ?

Well spotted mate

[lefty]

Having watched more footage of Makabu- I'm gonna go for a Bellew KO/TKO around the 8/9th. Makabu was buzzed momentarily against Eric Fields, Rocked in the second or third round against Mchunu (who's not a particularly big puncher at cruiserweight) and was knocked out on his debut or within his first few fights against a guy we've never heard of. So his chin isn't rock solid and he's defensively pretty leaky. I also think he's gonna struggle pretty badly with Bellew's height and length pretty badly.

[crusader]

I just realized that this is on Sunday