Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tony Bellew - 10 November 2018

[Oiky]

Bellew is game, he has a hope, not much of one imo but he has a chance, but Usyk for me, far too good

[tiny_acres]

If Bellew some how wins. He would be smart to retire and live off the legend

I think (in his mind) he is already living off the legend of beating a geratric Haye twice.
Of couse, we havent fogotten the Stevenson fight have we

Those Haye wins will be great stories to tell his grandkids and any other person who will listen.

[Ruthless-RKO]

If Bellew some how wins. He would be smart to retire and live off the legend

I think (in his mind) he is already living off the legend of beating a geratric Haye twice.
Of couse, we havent fogotten the Stevenson fight have we

Yeh. He mentions Haye still as do the rest of the Sky plonkers.. they use that to build THIS fight. Oh and he is undefeated at CW.

[Oiky]

They should surely realise his wins over Haye have no bearing on this fight

[skanksta]

i wonder why loma was there, crolla will be his mandatory if they bith win there next fights, maybe working something out already?

Apparently he’s one of Usyk’s ‘best friends’.

Heh, something about those inverted commas
Best friends, or “best friends” ?!

[coneye]

If Bellew some how wins. He would be smart to retire and live off the legend

I think (in his mind) he is already living off the legend of beating a geratric Haye twice.
Of couse, we havent fogotten the Stevenson fight have we

Those Haye wins will be great stories to tell his grandkids and any other person who will listen.

There will be 100's of thousands of scousers , listening and repeating , Bellow will go down in scouce folklore as an hero

[Ruthless-RKO]

i wonder why loma was there, crolla will be his mandatory if they bith win there next fights, maybe working something out already?

Apparently he’s one of Usyk’s ‘best friends’.

Heh, something about those inverted commas
Best friends, or “best friends” ?!

Best friends. Loma’s dad now trains Usyk as well.

Don’t know why Usyk split with James Ali Bashir. He seemed good for him. But I always thought Usyk moved like a CW version of Loma. His movement and different angles against Gassiev really showed. If he does that around Bellew, Bellew will get really frustrated.

[rio]

Bellew has fought only 2 world champions who also happened to be in their prime. Clev who he fought in his backyard and was beaten fair and square in a competitive fight then 2nd was Stevenson where he looked like a deer in headlights. He looked terrified and hardly threw a punch and got pole-axed. Usyk will be his 3rd world champion he has faced. If hes as good as he says he is he should beat USYK. He can't blame weight this time. Looking forward to it. Never liked Bellew since his AA comments in the build up to the 2nd clev match. Hes a walking contradiction.

[sharpei_louis]

Get your 'ref was biased/made Usyk not look as good as everyone thought' excuses in nice and early boys

how do you think bellew should go about it? i think i remember you saying you thought there will only be a point or two in it

does bellew make it that close by boxing, pressing, etc

I may have said something like that but only probably to illustrate the point that I'm not personally convinced that Usyk is this God a lot of people are making him out to be.
However, I do think all round he is better than Bellew and realistically should win most rounds on quality. On a big show in the UK I do think because Bellew will be competitive I can see him making it closer on tbe cards as the judging here seems to reflect fights rather than rounds (ie on my card Usyk is likely to win almost all rounds but closely - it may be a shutout and wide UD despite being competitive, if that makes sense).

However, I think Bellew needs to change pace quickly - slow to fast and back - fight on the back foot 70% of the time, counterpunching and then raiding aggressively with combinations when he lands anything. I think his powah is overrated but handspeed underrated and if he can land one or two in a flurry as he comes forward, look impressive as Usyk defends, then tighten defensively and wait for his next good counter, he will score with the judges (and crowd). Usyk moving backwards I don't think is as impressive as everyone is making out and I do think Bellew actually gauges higher against Usyks previous opposition than people are giving him credit for.
Gassiev may hit harder, but I think Bellew has a much better boxing brain and ability to vary his tactics.

We'll see.

[jamamb]

[KiwiRider]

Bellew has fought only 2 world champions who also happened to be in their prime. Clev who he fought in his backyard and was beaten fair and square in a competitive fight then 2nd was Stevenson where he looked like a deer in headlights. He looked terrified and hardly threw a punch and got pole-axed. Usyk will be his 3rd world champion he has faced. If hes as good as he says he is he should beat USYK. He can't blame weight this time. Looking forward to it. Never liked Bellew since his AA comments in the build up to the 2nd clev match. Hes a walking contradiction.

Yep. He has fallen short at the top level both times.
I accept he is improved since Stevenson, though that was a real one sided affair.

[skanksta]

someone tell me how bellew needs to approach this to win

i know the whole 'learned not to bet against him' thing, but how should he actually go about living up to that reputation? what are the tactics?

Well Breidis ran him closest - if he could reproduce that and get a knockdown, a home crowd could see him home.
As Ritchie Woodhall would say, “easier said than done of course...”

[Deleted_Scenes]

As a cruiserweight, I'd put Bellew on a similar level to Dorticos. Certainly no higher.

Their records at the weight are very similar (taking their best opponents). Both shaded wins over Masternak, and both have impressive KOs over dangerous but limited/chinny opponents (Kudryashov/Makabu).

The difference is Dorticos took on a bigger challenge and lost (Gassiev), where Bellew avoided defending his belt against Briedis so he could chase more money at heavyweight.

Bellew will be up for this, and his workrate might get him some temporary success, but I don't even go him a puncher's chance of winning the fight. His power is really a bit of a myth. It's one thing knocking out cripples, journeymen and face first brawlers, but we didn't see the same power against Masternak, Cleverly, Chilemba, Stevenson etc.

Usyk will see him coming and pick him off. Probably even force a late TKO, similar to the way he beat Huck. Bellew is no Briedis. I suspect Briedis hits harder than Bellew too.

[Sparring101]

Bellew was saying on talk sport a while back he did some tv work with Sly Stallone

Think he fancies himself as modern day Rocky up against Ivan Drago!

[TooMuch]

Bellew's two wins over crippled Haye really got into his head. He is in for a rude awakening against a technician which is Usyk. I think Bellew will quit in late rounds, when the situation becomes untenable.

[Ruthless-RKO]

This guy is hilarious

[Ruthless-RKO]

Terry O'Connor to referee world cruiserweight title fight

Birmingham representative O'Connor has now been named as the third man in the ring.

The British Boxing Board of Control has jurisdiction over all officials in fights in Britain, but foreign boxers in world title bouts are allowed to request a referee from a neutral country.

For example Wladimir Klitschko, Usyk's fellow Ukrainian, wanted a neutral referee against Anthony Joshua so the United States' David Fields was named.

But Usyk, similarly to Russia's Alexander Povetkin who fought Joshua in September, was happy to use a referee from the same country as the home fighter.

Experienced referee O'Connor notably oversaw Dillian Whyte's win against Dereck Chisora two years ago. Whyte and Chisora will rematch on December 22, live on Sky Sports Box Office.

More recently O'Connor has refereed world title fights including Jorge Linares vs Anthony Crolla and Ryan Burnett vs Yonfrez Parejo, as well as Amir Khan's most recent win.

[mickey1975]

That’s it then, Boomer only needs to land a shot and Big Tel will stop it.

[Ruthless-RKO]

That’s it then, Boomer only needs to land a shot and Big Tel will stop it.

In Bellew's voice.. "It's as SIMPLE as THAT!"

[Ruthless-RKO]

What the fück is Nelson on??

[Oiky]

What a embarassing yes man

Aggravating how he can be so backward

[geronimo]

If he will be the same Bellew of Makabu and Haye, he could have good moments, i hope he's not decreased.

[smiling assassin]

This fight will not even be close. Tony's power is overrated and it will be nothing Usyk ain't felt before. People seem to forget Bellew couldn't get Clev out of there when he was a sitting duck for 4 rounds same with Haye in the 1st fight. Usyk will get the stoppage

[Ruthless-RKO]

What a embarassing yes man

Aggravating how he can be so backward

He’s an absolute àss

[Oiky]

He's a proper div