Bellew: "'Hard man' Briedis was on my radar"

[Ruthless-RKO]

World Boxing Super Series finalists were nearly challengers to Tony Bellew’s WBC title

By Tony Bellew

Tony Bellew breaks down the World Boxing Super Series final - and explains why Mairis Briedis and Yuniel Dorticos nearly became opponents of his…

With my experience in the cruiserweight division from when I was world champion, these are two fighters that I know very well from my time there as I gave both plenty of my attention.

I'm a student of the sport, but I took extra care with potential rivals because I had a realistic chance of possibly meeting them so Briedis and Dorticos, as well as a few others, were definitely fighters I spent a lot of time focusing on.

With Briedis, you're looking at a very hard man who can go 12 rounds at an absolutely frantic pace as he's proved several times before in high level fights.

He was my mandatory when I was WBC champion and when I defended my belt against BJ Flores in October 2016, Briedis did a real job on Simon Vallily on my undercard.

It was a fight that was very much on my radar and I think we would've created fireworks, but there was a better opportunity for me at heavyweight against David Haye and that's the direction I went.

When looking at Briedis in several fights, you can see he has a great will to win and is very aggressive with his approach. As he's moved up in level, there has been a decrease in stoppages for him, but that happens to a lot of fighters as they face better opponents.

The power is definitely still there and Dorticos will have to be wary of that, but I think it's Briedis' work rate and more aggressive approach that will be his biggest weapon.

For Dorticos to win this fight, he has to get his power into play straightaway because when this man hits you then you are in serious trouble.

People out there who know the sport like to make a big fuss over the power the likes of Naoya Inoue and Deontay Wilder possess, but Dorticos deserves to be in the conversation because he's one serious puncher.

Look at his record and you'll see early stoppages mixed with late ones and that tells you that he's a threat for the entire fight and he'll be confident of hurting Briedis at any stage in the fight.

This is an outstanding fight between two fighters who are probably at their peak. Both men have mixed in outstanding company for the best part of three years now due to their recent history with this tournament and they'll both have a point to prove after their exits in the last competition when they both provided stunning efforts in losing battles.

The winner of this fight has the right to call themselves the best cruiserweight in the world, and I think that person will be Briedis, although he will have to be very careful every second the fight lasts.

[Ruthless-RKO]

More like Bellew was on Briedis' radar..

[Wee Tommy]

More like Bellew was on Briedis' radar..

Briedis would have leathered him. Badly.

I still laugh when folk make out Tony gave Usyk some trouble

[Ruthless-RKO]

More like Bellew was on Briedis' radar..

Briedis would have leathered him. Badly.

I still laugh when folk make out Tony gave Usyk some trouble

It's funny.. They give Bellew waaaaaaay too much credit and clearly haven't seen Usyk fight before.

Takes AT LEAST the first 2-3 round off..

After that Usyk didn't lose a round IMO.

Froch gave all rounds to Bellew, the ones that Usyk won clearly he scored a 10-10. What a joke!

I think two of the judges DID have Bellew ahead before he was stopped.. (bias), but guaranteed, Bellew was never winning a round afterhe was KO'd, had he gotten up and continued.

Official scores
65-68 - Bellew
66-67 - Bellew
67-67 - EVEN

[Wee Tommy]

Scores are pretty abysmal tbh. Usyk just let Tony work while watching him and timing him. Tony didn’t land anything of note and just opened himself up. As soon as Usyk started trying to land it was pretty much all over.

[Counter-puncher]

i would have loved to have seen Boomer - Briedis, for the obvious reason everyone's mentioned already

[Ruthless-RKO]

Scores are pretty abysmal tbh. Usyk just let Tony work while watching him and timing him. Tony didn’t land anything of note and just opened himself up. As soon as Usyk started trying to land it was pretty much all over.

Also, noticed, then Bellew was taunting.. Like then he threw his hands down in anger for example, and the crowd popped..

[margaret thatcher]

Wasnt a dude on here adamant that Simon Valilly was going to beat Breidas

[garethhop]

The scores at the time of the stoppage are particularly irrelevant when there's a knockdown.

So even if theoretically Bellew gets back up (and doesn't go down again!), survives the round, the scorecards then read:

76-75 - BELLEW
75-76 - USYK
75-77 - USYK

So fine to say that Bellew was in the fight from a scoring perspective, but not to suggest that he was on the way to winning it.

[Ash93]

Always makes me laugh when someone gets stopped/KO’d and people start with the ‘but he was winning on the scorecards before that’. The aim of boxing is to be winning after 12 rounds not 4 or 8 (if it goes the distance of course).

[Counter-puncher]

do we reckon Bellew believes that 'gave Usyk his toughest fight' line, in his heart of hearts?

[Ruthless-RKO]

The scores at the time of the stoppage are particularly irrelevant when there's a knockdown.

So even if theoretically Bellew gets back up (and doesn't go down again!), survives the round, the scorecards then read:

76-75 - BELLEW
75-76 - USYK
75-77 - USYK

So fine to say that Bellew was in the fight from a scoring perspective, but not to suggest that he was on the way to winning it.

Yeh, he was out of it, had he ebaten the count, he probably wouldn't have finished that round or had eventually lost via stoppage anyway. I hiughly doubt he would have won another round after that one.

The fact is, the scorecards up until the stoppage give us a false image of how the fight actually went.

Someone may see that scorecard up until the stoppage and think, Bellew was smashing it and boxing really well, but in true fact, that's false.

[JimStone]

Bellew gets a lot of stick. Some justified. Has there ever been a British fighter who was more of a financial overachiever though? Can't knock him for that.

[watsupdoc87]

Bellew gets a lot of stick. Some justified. Has there ever been a British fighter who was more of a financial overachiever though? Can't knock him for that.

Whyte maybe

[JimStone]

Bellew gets a lot of stick. Some justified. Has there ever been a British fighter who was more of a financial overachiever though? Can't knock him for that.

Whyte maybe

Earn with Hearn.

[orbtastic]

Hatton was "winning the fight by a country mile" according to him after the Pac fight.

[Wee Tommy]

Bellew gets a lot of stick. Some justified. Has there ever been a British fighter who was more of a financial overachiever though? Can't knock him for that.

I think he’s done much better than many far better fighters. It’s all about cash at end of the day

[Wee Tommy]

Regardless of the scores, did anyone see Bellew do anything, like anything at all, that seemed to bother Usyk?

[JimStone]

Regardless of the scores, did anyone see Bellew do anything, like anything at all, that seemed to bother Usyk?

No.

[Wee Tommy]

Regardless of the scores, did anyone see Bellew do anything, like anything at all, that seemed to bother Usyk?

No.

At least I know your not Carl Froch

[dookus]

Bellew boxed out of his skin just to stay in touch over the first 5 or 6 rounds, while Usyk simply eased into it and finished him off without much fuss in the 8th. One of those fights where the scorecards tell you very little.

[Counter-puncher]

Regardless of the scores, did anyone see Bellew do anything, like anything at all, that seemed to bother Usyk?

No.

At least I know your not Carl Froch

[Ruthless-RKO]

Bellew gets a lot of stick. Some justified. Has there ever been a British fighter who was more of a financial overachiever though? Can't knock him for that.

I think he’s done much better than many far better fighters. It’s all about cash at end of the day

That's why he targetted Haye..

Bellew was mid 30's.. most he had recently earned was £500k, which was for the European belt..

He did get just than than £1m for the Clev rematch,

He needed that BIG payday..

So he literally called out, insulted and begged for the David Haye fight.. Got paid around £5m for both of them.. Even just after the first fight, he was set. He spent all his money investing in properties. Why do you think he thanked David Haye and hugged him after the first fight, it was because of Haye he was set for life.

Fair play to Bellew. Don't really like him, he talks too much, but he's done what he needed to do and got what he wanted out of boxing.

[Counter-puncher]

Fair play to Bellew. Don't really like him, he talks too much, but he's done what he needed to do and got what he wanted out of boxing.

and he went home to dose kids safely

[Ruthless-RKO]

This what Bellew said before the Haye rematch:

Bellew said at the time: “For me it was never about the money. It is about sending a message.

“When I beat this clown I’m the most valuable heavyweight in the world outside the champions. I’ll also be the best cruiserweight this country has ever produced.”

This was Bellew’s first seven-figure salary fight.

This is what Haye replied:

Speaking about Bellew, Haye said: “Before the first fight, he wanted to secure his family financially.

“I know what he got paid for that first fight and, mission completed, he’s financially secure for the rest of his life. He’s a multimillionaire.”