BoxRec

Best summed up with Bellew is fine until he starts talking about himself.

Some great achievements, undoubtedly and I like seeing any fighter earn big money and achieve his dreams etc, it's a lifetime of training.

If we are being brutally honest though, he could have had it tougher, as crazy as that sounds. He's world title? It's a paper title. I don't care what colour it is, he didn't beat the champion, he got home advantage and he managed to fight against a guy who plenty of other cruisers would beat. He then defended it against a terrible challenger.
Then in his cash out fight with Haye, he gets lucky with the injury Haye suffers.

Absolutely fair play to him and for what he has done and again, amazing achievements, but let's not re-write what's actually gone on! He took advantage of each situation, and again, fair play to him and as you say Jim, it takes balls just to get in the ring and face any version of Haye. The amount of times I heard 'I'd fight Haye for that money though' off the average person...nope, they really wouldn't!!

Not sure how anyone could sit through that fight 3 times though. That's dedication sir

First time I watched it live, and kept expecting it to be all over with the next punch Haye threw, so I woke up next day and wanted to see it properly, and then I watched it again when my dad came round to see it.

Its a good job I wasn't betting on the fight as I'd have put the account balance on Haye inside 2 rounds.

Tony has never claimed to be a rocket scientist, and has always been willing to fight. He knows the AJ, Wilder, & Wlads, are too big for him, and he ain't trying to con us lot into those fights. Now he's got the W over Haye on his record to look back on forever.

I'd say Tony is a smart man. He's secured his family, and now their future generations, through his own sacrifices that come with dedicating a life to boxing.

I'd say compared to 99.9% of men, Tony has 'made it' in life.

SAPFO wrote:Tony has never claimed to be a rocket scientist, and has always been willing to fight. He knows the AJ, Wilder, & Wlads, are too big for him, and he ain't trying to con us lot into those fights. Now he's got the W over Haye on his record to look back on forever.

I'd say Tony is a smart man. He's secured his family, and now their future generations, through his own sacrifices that come with dedicating a life to boxing.

I'd say compared to 99.9% of men, Tony has 'made it' in life.

He's 'made it' 100%.

No man should ever compare himself to anyone else though when asking himself if he has 'made it'. Worrying what others have done or what others think means the answer to 'have I made it?' will always be a massive, fat no!

Bellew won't need anyone's seal of approval. He's achieved far more than he ever set out to as he admits himself

What's the stuff I here people in Liverpool don't like him? Obviously going to be reds ain't they?

JimJim2009 wrote:First time I watched it live, and kept expecting it to be all over with the next punch Haye threw, so I woke up next day and wanted to see it properly, and then I watched it again when my dad came round to see it.

Its a good job I wasn't betting on the fight as I'd have put the account balance on Haye inside 2 rounds.

Its weird but I seen it totally opposite from you. I seen haye missing badly and wildly swinging. His timing was off. After 4 i bet bellew haye reminded me of tyson

ThereByTheGrace wrote:

JimJim2009 wrote:First time I watched it live, and kept expecting it to be all over with the next punch Haye threw, so I woke up next day and wanted to see it properly, and then I watched it again when my dad came round to see it.

Its a good job I wasn't betting on the fight as I'd have put the account balance on Haye inside 2 rounds.

Its weird but I seen it totally opposite from you. I seen haye missing badly and wildly swinging. His timing was off. After 4 i bet bellew haye reminded me of tyson

Haye did miss badly and was swinging wildly but nobody was saying, before the first bell, oh Bellew will be fine, Haye is just gonna miss by a mile, have crap timing, injure his leg badly half way through, and gas. It was a formidable proposition to accept the fight with Haye, train for it at a new weight, and climb into the ring. That's basically my point. Threads like this, or should I say the thread title, are embarrassing for this forum in my opinion. I think 99% of people within the boxing business, in the UK, would have nothing but admiration for what Bellew did, then you come on here and see a thread like this and to me it paints fans who post on forums as axxeholes. Somebody mentioned above that as paying fans we've all got the right to express ourselves and that is fair enough but I think the personal slagging off of a guy who did what Bellew did is a bit much really. He did something amazing.

JimJim2009 wrote:

ThereByTheGrace wrote:

JimJim2009 wrote:First time I watched it live, and kept expecting it to be all over with the next punch Haye threw, so I woke up next day and wanted to see it properly, and then I watched it again when my dad came round to see it.

Its a good job I wasn't betting on the fight as I'd have put the account balance on Haye inside 2 rounds.

Its weird but I seen it totally opposite from you. I seen haye missing badly and wildly swinging. His timing was off. After 4 i bet bellew haye reminded me of tyson

Haye did miss badly and was swinging wildly.

That's funny, I heard Bellew in an interview saying Haye was fast and sharp and powerful.

would you say bellew went to hell and back in that fight?i dont think so really.he probably couldnt believe his luck more than anything.

the main thing is though as a boxing fan can you honestly say all this is good for boxing?i cant respect him as a fighter if i dont agree with what hes doing.Yes,its good for his bank balance but why do we care about that?i want to see him defend the title he has in his own weight and then ill give him some respect.What respect has he and his promoter shown the fans after getting gifted a world title!defending it once against a "nightclub buddy" thats what!

Counter-puncher wrote:

JimJim2009 wrote:

ThereByTheGrace wrote:
Its weird but I seen it totally opposite from you. I seen haye missing badly and wildly swinging. His timing was off. After 4 i bet bellew haye reminded me of tyson

Haye did miss badly and was swinging wildly.

That's funny, I heard Bellew in an interview saying Haye was fast and sharp and powerful.

Yes, granted, but is it just him or is it the world we live in ? Politicians talk crap all the time, TV presenters do, heads of business do likewise (recently the head of RBS, after over six billion in losses were announced, said the bank is "on track"), most sports people talk crap, and forums are full of it too - and I include myself in that. We've seen how a shoot from the hip Tyson Fury can lose a fortune in out-of-ring earnings by speaking his mind, and most fans on here are critical of Joshua's rehearsed, humble approach - which earns him a fortune in sponsorships etc. So I don't think its Bellew I think its almost everyone.

I'd say if you have gone ten hard rounds with Haye, you're entitled to say he was fast and sharp and powerful. Easy for us armchair experts to say Haye was garbage but it wasn't us getting in the ring with him.

LancashireLoyal wrote:would you say bellew went to hell and back in that fight?i dont think so really.he probably couldnt believe his luck more than anything.

the main thing is though as a boxing fan can you honestly say all this is good for boxing?i cant respect him as a fighter if i dont agree with what hes doing.Yes,its good for his bank balance but why do we care about that?i want to see him defend the title he has in his own weight and then ill give him some respect.What respect has he and his promoter shown the fans after getting gifted a world title!defending it once against a "nightclub buddy" thats what!

I think Bellew/Haye was excellent for boxing, overall. It got massive coverage, delivered real drama to a big audience, and brought the sport to prominence. I've been on this forum for years and enjoy it immensely, and at times I've undoubtedly talked sxxt myself, but sometimes its just embarrassing how anal it all gets. Bellew used to come on here and doesn't anymore and he's better off not doing, he lives in the real world of boxing and will be celebrated for last week's win for the rest of his life, he has better things to do with his life than come on a forum and be insulted by armchair experts.

His defence against Flores was a gimme, admittedly, but one of the fundamental aspects of the business of boxing is the easy first defence of a title. Hearn didn't invent it, its just what happens. Folk like Wilder are still at it two years down the line.....

I think Bellew took serious punishment in that fight. He isn't a heavyweight, he isn't even a strong cruiserweight for pete's sake. He admitted afterwards just how hard the punches felt, I guess some people will accuse him of making that up but Haye has always been a puncher and he landed enough on Bellew.

JimJim2009 wrote:

Counter-puncher wrote:

JimJim2009 wrote:
Haye did miss badly and was swinging wildly.

That's funny, I heard Bellew in an interview saying Haye was fast and sharp and powerful.

Yes, granted, but is it just him or is it the world we live in ? Politicians talk crap all the time, TV presenters do, heads of business do likewise (recently the head of RBS, after over six billion in losses were announced, said the bank is "on track"), most sports people talk crap, and forums are full of it too - and I include myself in that. We've seen how a shoot from the hip Tyson Fury can lose a fortune in out-of-ring earnings by speaking his mind, and most fans on here are critical of Joshua's rehearsed, humble approach - which earns him a fortune in sponsorships etc. So I don't think its Bellew I think its almost everyone.

I'd say if you have gone ten hard rounds with Haye, you're entitled to say he was fast and sharp and powerful. Easy for us armchair experts to say Haye was garbage but it wasn't us getting in the ring with him.

I'm not sure if you're agreeing with me that Bellew was talking crap, or disagreeing and saying Haye was sharp and fast and powerful, or weirdly you're saying both. I don't get your logic mate, going ten rounds with a boxer who looked sh!t early and then got injured, gives you the right to make him sound like peak Tyson? Personally no I don't think being in a ring gives someone a free pass to rewrite history in direct contrast to what my eyes saw.

And yes, people talk crap all the time, and get slaughtered for it all the time.

I watched the fight and saw it a little differently to Tony.
I saw him being out boxed for 4 rounds, then taking another 5 rounds or so to beat a bloke with a gammy leg.

Well my feeling is that Bellew accepted a suicide mission type of fight, came through it - yes with good fortune over the injury - and went on to win. If he talks it up afterwards, I think he's earned the right. That's just my view it doesn't mean I want to impose it on others. Just winds me up a bit the bile on here about Bellew this week. He is the type of personality that polarises opinions though. It was a really good achievement to move up from light heavyweight to cruiserweight and win the WBC title, it was mission impossible to step up and face David Haye and I think the whole thing was a magnificent achievement.

KiwiRider wrote:I watched the fight and saw it a little differently to Tony.
I saw him being out boxed for 4 rounds, then taking another 5 rounds or so to beat a bloke with a gammy leg.

Bellew has lost before and he'll lose again. He isn't Floyd Mayweather and he isn't a heavyweight. He wasn't meant to last beyond two or three rounds, but he climbed through the ropes, fought his fight as best he could, took some big punches, and hung in there, and got the win.

Wouldn't a more accurate interview be "I was losing the fight clearly, he tore his Achilles and then despite that I couldn't knock him out. In the end he slipped through the rope and his corner stopped it"

forcefraser wrote:Wouldn't a more accurate interview be "I was losing the fight clearly, he tore his Achilles and then despite that I couldn't knock him out. In the end he slipped through the rope and his corner stopped it"

I see your point and I often get frustrated at the way everyone in the world today puts top spin on things.

To me, the overriding memory of the fight will always be how Tony marched after Haye in the later rounds, doing his best to force a stoppage. He was knackered, he had no punch or power, but he kept at it, and ultimately got the win. He could have done a sven ottke and just tried to stay on his feet, and out of harms way, hoping he'd win on the cards, but he gritted his teeth and went after Haye.

One of the all-time low points for me personally was when Sven Ottke fought Robin Reid. No way on earth was Ottke in front by round ten, he should have been way behind. Ottke just backed off the last two rounds, in my mind he knew what was coming. That sort of thing spoils it for me, and it was brilliant to see Bellew marching after Haye to force the stoppage.

JimJim2009 wrote:

forcefraser wrote:Wouldn't a more accurate interview be "I was losing the fight clearly, he tore his Achilles and then despite that I couldn't knock him out. In the end he slipped through the rope and his corner stopped it"

I see your point and I often get frustrated at the way everyone in the world today puts top spin on things.

To me, the overriding memory of the fight will always be how Tony marched after Haye in the later rounds, doing his best to force a stoppage. He was knackered, he had no punch or power, but he kept at it, and ultimately got the win. He could have done a sven ottke and just tried to stay on his feet, and out of harms way, hoping he'd win on the cards, but he gritted his teeth and went after Haye.

One of the all-time low points for me personally was when Sven Ottke fought Robin Reid. No way on earth was Ottke in front by round ten, he should have been way behind. Ottke just backed off the last two rounds, in my mind he knew what was coming. That sort of thing spoils it for me, and it was brilliant to see Bellew marching after Haye to force the stoppage.

You make it sound like the injury didn't happen. Haye was sat against the ropes for long periods allowing Bellew to tee off on him.

I don't know why people keep going on about Nandos. Hearn mentions it as well

TheDarkDestroyer wrote:

JimJim2009 wrote:

forcefraser wrote:Wouldn't a more accurate interview be "I was losing the fight clearly, he tore his Achilles and then despite that I couldn't knock him out. In the end he slipped through the rope and his corner stopped it"

I see your point and I often get frustrated at the way everyone in the world today puts top spin on things.

To me, the overriding memory of the fight will always be how Tony marched after Haye in the later rounds, doing his best to force a stoppage. He was knackered, he had no punch or power, but he kept at it, and ultimately got the win. He could have done a sven ottke and just tried to stay on his feet, and out of harms way, hoping he'd win on the cards, but he gritted his teeth and went after Haye.

One of the all-time low points for me personally was when Sven Ottke fought Robin Reid. No way on earth was Ottke in front by round ten, he should have been way behind. Ottke just backed off the last two rounds, in my mind he knew what was coming. That sort of thing spoils it for me, and it was brilliant to see Bellew marching after Haye to force the stoppage.

You make it sound like the injury didn't happen. Haye was sat against the ropes for long periods allowing Bellew to tee off on him.

I'm not an injury-denier - it did happen, it was a major part of the fight and the outcome, and yes Haye was against the ropes for most of the fight once that injury happened. That said, I still think it was tremendous of Bellew to keep attacking in the last couple of rounds like he did. He just didn't have any sort of heavyweight punch, which must be incredibly frustrating in a fight like that, but he did his best with what he had at his disposal, and he forced the stoppage in the end.

Noxy wrote:I don't know why people keep going on about Nandos. Hearn mentions it as well

I believe modern language dictates that whenever the word Nandos is used, one must ensure that it is pre ceded by the word "Cheeky"

It's just chicken.

forcefraser wrote:

Noxy wrote:I don't know why people keep going on about Nandos. Hearn mentions it as well

I believe modern language dictates that whenever the word Nandos is used, one must ensure that it is pre ceded by the word "Cheeky"

It's just chicken.

I saw it exactly the same as he did, Bellew simply won the first 3 rounds.

SAPFO wrote:What's the stuff I here people in Liverpool don't like him? Obviously going to be reds ain't they?

Nope my bro is a blue and a few of my mates are blue and they cant stand him