BoxRec

Travis Dickinson or Enzo next Tony did what he had to do but was a boring fight

As Pernell Whitaker once said "There's a reason it's called boxing and not 'knocking people out'". With that in mind, I thought the scorecard was rather impressive in Tony Bellew's favour. Of COURSE we all like to see more 'action', but no point in deliberately sticking your chin out to be hit. I have for a while now had a feeling Tony Bellew is one of those fighters who will always be JUST that bit better than the man put in front of him. Or to put it simply, the better the challenger, the better his performance (could be wrong but...). Anyway, for me this makes his fights something to look forward to (plus his 'I don't care if he crawls out of Azumah Nelson's arsehole' is the funniest boxing quote I've heard in 30 years).

Tony may have enjoyed showing off his impressive jab, but it was fairly clear from the commentary and Smith's questioning that his stock has fallen at Sky. Opinions change quickly in boxing, and - rightly or wrongly - it looks like he's gone from potential world title challenger back to domestic / commonwealth level operator on the back of that performance. It may have cost him 2 or 3 fights with the likes of Ajisafe / Macintosh / teak tough Ghanaian before people are talking seriously about a shot at Cleverly. I like him as a character, but I think people would go a lot easier on him if he'd described it as, say, a "professional performance", rather than a masterclass, which it most certainly was not.

Thought it was poor. Fighting like that and still having the audacity to showboat is not a good look for me.

All I would say is he is lucky that he is a ticket seller, because the "all that matters is a win" opinion didn't help the likes of Junior Witter when getting the big fights

I'll be honest though, I'm really pissed because this 'fight' killed 3 of my accumulators.

BTW I hope McKenzie gets frozen out from the scene now. I never want to see him on TV again. You have 10losses, probably as many fans, you are given this opportunity again and you spend 12 rounds feinting. He was a disgrace

Tony Bellew sells on excitement value. People even whinge if his interviews aren't all crash-bang.

He is nearing a big payday with Cleverly - so it was wise of him to not take risks with his dodgy whiskers.
That said - fireworks will be required next if he is not fighting Cleverly. Otherwise he begins to be seen as another Haye..

I think he was promised Cleverly next if he won lastnite.

True enough @tonyevs

Betting pain aside, the fight seemed like a bit of a limp wristed affair. You can win on points and still make a positive impression, it's not all about the stoppage

He did what he had to do to get the win but his performance was shite!

Bear in mind he beat a guy last night with 11 losses on his record, not an up and coming worldbeater!

Its total boll*cks that Tony is even being talked about as a challenger to Clev! He aint beat no one! Go down the European route or a top ten fighter and win the right to fight for the title! fight a Karo Murat or a Gabriel Campillo. Not just getting it handed to him because its supposedly a domestic showdown between two allegedly fighters!

I also feel that Tony thinks he's a lot better than he is and he thinks that he's on the brink of superstardom. His whole demeanor in the ring and in post fight interviews is that of a of bit of an arse, who truely belives he's a f*ckin animal! Dellusional and a total lack of respect for the other fighter! His celebration at the end involved more exertion than he provided in the entire f*ckin fight!

He comes across as a great guy on here but his actions prove otherwise!

He needs to stop living off the idea of chasing Clev, because at the min he's not fit to lace his boots!

Don't be coming out with all this crap that no one wants to fight you, because there is a whole new world outside the UK, and after your last few displays there will be no short amount of takers abroad! (not just Africa Tony)

Fights against champions need to be earned! Going down this route will no doubt benefit you as well. This is not a personal attack but my assessment of the situation. I truely do wish you all the best and feel that you could become a force in this division or cruiser but you need to show a bit more humility and be a bit more humble! I'm sure after you see your performance you will see why there has been quite bit of negativity!

Cardiff-Lad1 wrote:Cant understand why people think he should fight Cleverly next because 'theres no one else in Britain left'..... Boxing happens outside of the UK.

Boxing Cleverly means he's getting a World title fight FFS. what has he done to deserve that?? if they weren't domestic rivals it wouldnt even be thought of. Bellew is scraping by at British level. He looked shite last night again what is only a decent journeyman. Ovill now has 11 losses on his record!!! Hardly preparation for a World title fight.

IMO Bellew needs to move up slowly and at least go to a decent European level before being allowed a world title shot. if he does get it now then its ridiculous in my opinion.

This is a problem.

We keep everything in house and seldom get our fighters experience of fighting abroad.

That's one reason why, so often our fighters fall short at the very highest level. Winning a world title is one thing, beating genuine world class, elite fighters is another.

I've changed my mind on this over the last 12 hours. During the fight I was bored to tears and was flicking channels during the rounds a few times. I certainly had a sense of dissapointment at the end.

This morning though I'm coming round to the fact that it was a clever performance in that it's a 12 rounder in the bank basically without taking a decent punch. We'd all have loved to see a fight like the first one but Tony's brain in 5 or 10 years wouldn't have appreciated another fight like the first one. It was far from a "masterclass" but it was a sensible performance. McKenzie takes most of the blame for me for not making it a better fight - his corner seemed to just be having a laugh between rounds and were not firm enough with him. Why turn up and go through the motions every round if you know you are losing?

I think the issue is (as Jim Watt pointed out) no-one watching last night would now be desperate to see Bellew vs Cleverly asap.

Jim wasnt to exciting to watch was He

He boxed well. Sky's commentary was very negative, an I actually thought Adam Smith was fkin rude to him after the fight.

Thought you did well last night bomber congratulations.
The worst part of your fight was the commentary from that miserable bitter ald jockenese twat.

chiggsy wrote:Thought you did well last night bomber congratulations.
The worst part of your fight was the commentary from that miserable bitter ald jockenese twat.

I don't understand why everyone seems to have a problem with Watt last night.

The fight was not interesting to watch (and there were even noticeable boos from the crowd). Are the commentators just meant to ignore that and tell us its really exciting viewing?

Cost me a tenner! Was certain Bomber was gonna get the stoppage before the fight.

Was pleasing to see Bellew using the jab though

mkirkhope wrote:I've changed my mind on this over the last 12 hours. During the fight I was bored to tears and was flicking channels during the rounds a few times. I certainly had a sense of dissapointment at the end.

This morning though I'm coming round to the fact that it was a clever performance in that it's a 12 rounder in the bank basically without taking a decent punch. We'd all have loved to see a fight like the first one but Tony's brain in 5 or 10 years wouldn't have appreciated another fight like the first one. It was far from a "masterclass" but it was a sensible performance. McKenzie takes most of the blame for me for not making it a better fight - his corner seemed to just be having a laugh between rounds and were not firm enough with him. Why turn up and go through the motions every round if you know you are losing?

I think the issue is (as Jim Watt pointed out) no-one watching last night would now be desperate to see Bellew vs Cleverly asap.

Although i think he did box the right gameplan for the first 6 rds and basically took the sting and desire out of McKenzie by just keeping him at the end of his jab and keeping on his toes and moving, he then needed to step it up the second half and really start teeing off on Mckenzie and throw some combo's to get him out of there as Ovil was all but done by then and didn't seem to have much heart for the fight. Instead Tony gave him too much respect like Ovil had 'Bob Foster' type power in his hands and even though the safety first approach gave him a clear win it also made for a very boring one note fight.

The performce hardly commands a world title shot next as it looks like will happen and if Bellew was wary of Ovils power, he will have even more problems against the harder hitting Cleverley.

Yeh Jim Watt's negativity certainly didn't help things. The commentary (not the fight) reminded me of Froch vs Johnson, where Watt was so negative it spoiled it. But any way you look at it, this was not a masterclass, just a safe as houses points win without dominating the opponent. Positives and negatives to it.

Bomber 1 wrote:Everyone is entitled to an opinion but I fight for me and my kids! I don't fight to be in classics everytime! I'll do that when I have to! I wanted more excitement but let's not forget if I'm winning every round then it's up to him to do something about it!! Not me!! I'm happy but like I say I love excitement and knockouts but I can't knock everybody out.. Styles make fights and we'll see something different next time IMO

Thanks again for the support appreciated

Congrats on the win Tony and for taking so little damage. Sky mentioned a few times about the weight and I was wondering whether you found it a struggle and if you think you can continue at Light Heavy or whether a move up to Cruiserweight would be more suitable.

It was a dull, disappointing spectacle. But fair play to Tony Bellew for picking up the vacant British Title.

TheCobra wrote:Yeh Jim Watt's negativity certainly didn't help things. The commentary (not the fight) reminded me of Froch vs Johnson, where Watt was so negative it spoiled it. But any way you look at it, this was not a masterclass, just a safe as houses points win without dominating the opponent. Positives and negatives to it.

How can you not be negative about the fight..... it was a massive dissapointment and Jim's criticisms was labelled firmly with Ovil.

Jim's criticisms of Bellew was in the analysis that this is a "shop window" for a world title fight with Cleverly at Ringside.... do fans want to see the fight now? I would agree with Watt, not immediately, Tony is not ready for it and this fight didn't win over new fans in terms of excitement.

He did frequently point out the positives in that he is doing enough, McKenzie is dangerous but Bellew is boxing safe and controlled.

stujones wrote:

TheCobra wrote:Yeh Jim Watt's negativity certainly didn't help things. The commentary (not the fight) reminded me of Froch vs Johnson, where Watt was so negative it spoiled it. But any way you look at it, this was not a masterclass, just a safe as houses points win without dominating the opponent. Positives and negatives to it.

How can you not be negative about the fight..... it was a massive dissapointment and Jim's criticisms was labelled firmly with Ovil.

Jim's criticisms of Bellew was in the analysis that this is a "shop window" for a world title fight with Cleverly at Ringside.... do fans want to see the fight now? I would agree with Watt, not immediately, Tony is not ready for it and this fight didn't win over new fans in terms of excitement.

He did frequently point out the positives in that he is doing enough, McKenzie is dangerous but Bellew is boxing safe and controlled.

It's ok being negative, but to repeat the same things over and over for 12 rounds really drained me!

To mention him in the same breath as Cleverley is ridiculous.

He is average domestic class at most, and if Enzo isn't completely dead at the weight he will certainly Bomb bellew out.

i thought tony was brilliant come out the ring with 2 titles not a mark on him hats of to him and his new team , as he said in inteview hes in it for the long run doesnt have to have a war everyfight , bring on clev

derry wrote:i thought tony was brilliant come out the ring with 2 titles not a mark on him hats of to him and his new team , as he said in inteview hes in it for the long run doesnt have to have a war everyfight , bring on clev

Couldnt disagree more.

There are two men in the ring. Look, I bet on Bellew by stoppage so I'm out of pocket but at the end of the day he boxed to orders and won every round. It was Mckenzie that was hardly doing anything in there - if you can win a fight easy why make it hard when the other fella is doing nothing? Good job Tony. If he gets in wars and has to get of the canvas every fight he won't have a very long career. That said, I would have liked him to let a few more "big 'uns" go and back up Mckenzie towards the end.

Dan Dares wrote:He boxed well. Sky's commentary was very negative, an I actually thought Adam Smith was fkin rude to him after the fight.

FFs Dan,

Surley you must admit that it was a fuking shite fight, (i kept switching to fight night champ on ps3 during it)

And as for Adam Smith? lol If you think that he was rude they should have sent Newborn down there, he would have torn Tony a new asshole.
(Newborn to Benn staight to his face after Eubank chinned him "well Nigel looks like your dreams have gone right out the window there!" man I was stunned that Benn kept it together I would have chinned him there and then lol)

Tony thought he did great, he didn't, his jab n grab was horrible to watch HOWEVER McKenzie..now wtf was he on valium??