BoxRec

cleverley would be too skillful,too powerful and too brainy for bellew yes bellew has power but on whos chin? he said before the fight "anyone i hit will go" he hit bob for 12 rounds ok he wobbled bob a few times but never put him out. for me bellew looked like a fighter with just a right hand and he might aswell of put a 2nd class stamp on it and sent it to bob. what id say is if cleverley fought bob what would he have done to him? styles make fights and i think bellew should concentrate more on fast hands and boxing abit more,as nicky piper said put some speed into it and the power will come naturally but bellew was just looking for the hand all the 12 rounds. at the moment bellew and cleverley are worlds apart bellew should have at least 10 more fights before he thinks of fighting cleverley

Better fighters in the world have had nights like Tony had last night,the main thing is he won and he can now go home and watch the dvd with his coach and talk about what went wrong and try to ensure it doesn't happen again.I've seen Tony spar in the gym and he has great hand speed and excellent boxing skills.From what i seen in the gym Tony is more than a match for Nathen and i hope he goes onwards and upwards after a very educational fight like last nights.Good luck my big mate

Must be a right bastard in your workplaces lads, do something correctly but not exceptionally and the public wanders in to pull it to shreds... oh no wait, that isn't what happens.

I know people have every right to comment on a fighter/fight but I think some people are going OTT, people have mentioned the fact that Bellew gets bigged up due to posting on here, well some people are deliberately going the other way it seems and with the same lack of reason.

Just to add my pennies worth, In all honestly I thought that last night was a poor performance on the face of it. However, Ajisafe turned out to be far better then I thought he'd be- in typical Ingle-fighter fashion he gradually gained confidence but never looked like winning the bout- he boxed within himself and hardly made any attempts to take the fight away from Tony so this coupled with Tony's poor timing led to the poor showing.

It looked as though Tony was too keen to land the single big shots and after a couple of rounds- he became awfully predictable. It only seemed he got success again in the later rounds once he began feignting his way in- but by that time Ajisafe had his measure and was able to evade much of what followed.

I'm a fan of Tony and i'm glad this happened. He needs to forget blowing people away and trying to please the fans. If he sticks to his boxing, with his power, the knockouts will come- without trying. The amount of advice being ferried his way now is likely to be far more helpful then the thousands of 'well done mates' he would have got had Ajisafe bailed early. I agree with Warren about bringing shots up more too. It made perfect sense- Ajisafe was reading everything Tony intended doing.

Positives are he's done the 12, beaten the best opponent of his career and has got a truckload of video and advice to call upon. Negatives are a poor performance at a time when things could have heated up with a future world champion. This fight will make or break you Tony: if I had to put money on it, judging by what you write on here 2012 will see you become British, Commonwealth and European champion.

Good luck.

The only puncher who I know who didn't have a night like Tony Bellew last night was Edwin Valero! Most fighters - Tyson to Jimmy Wilde, will have had to have gone the distance with an awkward and slippery opponent and not looking good in the process.

How did this win look, lets see how Bob Ajisafe turns out in a few years time - he might be gunning for glory. This isn't a bad result and I think all of us know on here that Bellew isn't going to clean everyone out.

Cleverly is on a verge of a world title shot. Bellew is obviously around eight fights away from world title contention. I have no doubts that he will get there eventually and when he does get there, win lose or draw - he will give Cleverly one hell of a fight.

Cant understand what Tony done wrong ,He won the fight got 12 rounds under his belt why so much stick,he will learn more from that fight then any other fight he has boxed,A lot of people on here just seem to want our boxers to fail well done Tony and best of look mate

Scouse Fight Fan wrote:He's still in the early stage of his career where lessons will be learned. Hopefully he's learned one tonight, whilst still winning may I add. All tonight has proved is that there is still work to do on his all round game and maybe he himself will now realise that he's not just going to blast everyone out of there. He was really expecting it tonight as were a lot of observers. The fact is the higher he climbs the more he's going to have to have more than just the knockout punch.

isn't he about 27 though?

there always was the question of how he'd look when the KO doesn't come.

just as with cleverly, you have to wonder whether he'll ever change his style and stop giving away all his height and reach.

just cos 2 guys are at the same weight does not mean a matchup is ever on the cards.

also, i recall cleverly used to look very ordinary (his fights on setanta) although he was very young and also a student.

black panther wrote:

Old bones Ian wrote:Its to early to compare, i remember that Cleverly didn't look great against Joey Vegas , at about the same time in his career as Bellew is at now.

If they met last week, then yes i'd say Cleverly would be a favourite, but its all about meeting when both are at their prime, and thats not yet for either.

Beat me to it!

for my part i haven't seen the fight yet so can't comment. what i will say is there seems a strange reaction. as bomber posts on here i'd say its pretty understandable as one of 'our own' many posters like me want him to do well, i can't really understand the 'backlash' mentality though that seem to almost delight in him not doing so well>????

MatthewS wrote:Must be a right bastard in your workplaces lads, do something correctly but not exceptionally and the public wanders in to pull it to shreds... oh no wait, that isn't what happens.

I know people have every right to comment on a fighter/fight but I think some people are going OTT, people have mentioned the fact that Bellew gets bigged up due to posting on here, well some people are deliberately going the other way it seems and with the same lack of reason.

exactly, good post matt.

how many bellew threads?

there are even 2 cleverly would beat bellew threads.

effing hell, the real fight of the weekend is murray v kudriavtsev, a proper european level fight.

Cleverly would make 99% of Light Heavyweights look silly. Move along.

As a fan of Bomber, the fight left me with a rollercoaster of emotions. The initial glee after he looked like putting Ajisafe away, then the despair as he was made to look poor by the tricky Ajisafe, then finally, the calmness of knowing this fight was probably the best possible outcome for Tony.

Tony went in there looking for the early KO, we knew he was doing it, he knew he was doing it. After a big second round, Ajisafe managed to survive which frustrated Tony, and then when Bomber was dropped you could see the embarrassment on his face. This turned the fight big time, as you have Tony looking for the highlight reel KO and Ajisafe gaining more and more confidence.

I don't know if Tony ever had a plan B, but it didn't appear so. What if this fight had happened against Clev and he was found to miss a lot? At least Tony can go and learn from the fight with Ajisafe, with his record still intact.

Better the fight happened now, and in such circumstances. The experience will be invaluable.

The "backlash" is to be expected surely. When Bellew has done interviews saying he's confident he'd beat Cleverley then looks very average and is dropped against someone he'd expect to beat easily, surely he's going to be critisized? Same way Froch was when he was calling out Calzaghe and looking average early on in his career.

I'm sure Tony is going to come good and I'm all for having self confidence, but I think he should concentrate on himself and less on being the "pound for Pound best talker" in the game.

jBacca wrote:As a fan of Bomber, the fight left me with a rollercoaster of emotions. The initial glee after he looked like putting Ajisafe away, then the despair as he was made to look poor by the tricky Ajisafe, then finally, the calmness of knowing this fight was probably the best possible outcome for Tony.

Tony went in there looking for the early KO, we knew he was doing it, he knew he was doing it. After a big second round, Ajisafe managed to survive which frustrated Tony, and then when Bomber was dropped you could see the embarrassment on his face. This turned the fight big time, as you have Tony looking for the highlight reel KO and Ajisafe gaining more and more confidence.

I don't know if Tony ever had a plan B, but it didn't appear so. What if this fight had happened against Clev and he was found to miss a lot? At least Tony can go and learn from the fight with Ajisafe, with his record still intact.

Better the fight happened now, and in such circumstances. The experience will be invaluable.

i thought all you scousers said bellew would smash cleverly in a couple of rounds...

HomeOfBritishBoxing wrote:

jBacca wrote:As a fan of Bomber, the fight left me with a rollercoaster of emotions. The initial glee after he looked like putting Ajisafe away, then the despair as he was made to look poor by the tricky Ajisafe, then finally, the calmness of knowing this fight was probably the best possible outcome for Tony.

Tony went in there looking for the early KO, we knew he was doing it, he knew he was doing it. After a big second round, Ajisafe managed to survive which frustrated Tony, and then when Bomber was dropped you could see the embarrassment on his face. This turned the fight big time, as you have Tony looking for the highlight reel KO and Ajisafe gaining more and more confidence.

I don't know if Tony ever had a plan B, but it didn't appear so. What if this fight had happened against Clev and he was found to miss a lot? At least Tony can go and learn from the fight with Ajisafe, with his record still intact.

Better the fight happened now, and in such circumstances. The experience will be invaluable.

i thought all you scousers said bellew would smash cleverly in a couple of rounds...

I have always said I believe Bomber would knock Clev sparko, but have never ruled out Clev on points.

I still think Tony could knock Clev out, as styles make fights, but if Clev fights like Ajisafe and Tony hasn't learnt from last night - Clev points.

jBacca wrote:

HomeOfBritishBoxing wrote:

jBacca wrote:As a fan of Bomber, the fight left me with a rollercoaster of emotions. The initial glee after he looked like putting Ajisafe away, then the despair as he was made to look poor by the tricky Ajisafe, then finally, the calmness of knowing this fight was probably the best possible outcome for Tony.

Tony went in there looking for the early KO, we knew he was doing it, he knew he was doing it. After a big second round, Ajisafe managed to survive which frustrated Tony, and then when Bomber was dropped you could see the embarrassment on his face. This turned the fight big time, as you have Tony looking for the highlight reel KO and Ajisafe gaining more and more confidence.

I don't know if Tony ever had a plan B, but it didn't appear so. What if this fight had happened against Clev and he was found to miss a lot? At least Tony can go and learn from the fight with Ajisafe, with his record still intact.

Better the fight happened now, and in such circumstances. The experience will be invaluable.

i thought all you scousers said bellew would smash cleverly in a couple of rounds...

I have always said I believe Bomber would knock Clev sparko, but have never ruled out Clev on points.

I still think Tony could knock Clev out, as styles make fights, but if Clev fights like Ajisafe and Tony hasn't learnt from last night - Clev points.

What absolute tosh Y

taffytoon wrote:

jBacca wrote:

HomeOfBritishBoxing wrote: i thought all you scousers said bellew would smash cleverly in a couple of rounds...

I have always said I believe Bomber would knock Clev sparko, but have never ruled out Clev on points.

I still think Tony could knock Clev out, as styles make fights, but if Clev fights like Ajisafe and Tony hasn't learnt from last night - Clev points.

What absolute tosh Y

Which bit and why? Give me something to work with.

Cleverly looks like he's going to be world champion and soon. Bellew unfortunatly looks like he should be back at the ABA's he looked very amateurish last night and seriously shouldn't even consider getting into a ring with Cleverly unless he has his headguard on.

Bellew is a young fighter - I seriously do not see what the problem is - he suffered a flash knock down as a result of a mistake that some young fighters make - it will do him good to have a shock to the system and he will move on from that.

Spud wrote:Bellew is a young fighter - I seriously do not see what the problem is - he suffered a flash knock down as a result of a mistake that some young fighters make - it will do him good to have a shock to the system and he will move on from that.

Agreed but look at the thread title, surely this is about Bellew calling Cleverly out and on last nights performance I think it would have been wiser to say nothing.

Mr Cardiff!!!

You should rightly be proud of Nathan Cleverly he is a good fighter - however if you wish to get into a p*ssing contest I will gladly oblige!!!!

Nathan Cleverly made his debut on 23 July 2005 and has had 20 fights.

Tony Bellew made his debut 2 years 3 months later than Cleverly on 6 Oct 2007 and has had 14 fights.

In my most humble opinion Cleverly has only really improved in his last 3 to 4 fights where has proved he is a quality fighter - prior to that he made his mistakes and he will tell you that himself - Bellew made a mistake last night and will learn a great deal from it - once he has had 20 fights and he still hasnt learnt or he is making the same mistakes then perhaps we can lay into him then.

Cleverly - proven at what?

Spud wrote:

Cleverly - proven at what?

Spud, do you not think Cleverly's recent victory proved his ability to operate at a level there were previously question marks about?

Deserter wrote:

Spud wrote:

Cleverly - proven at what?

Spud, do you not think Cleverly's recent victory proved his ability to operate at a level there were previously question marks about?

Ahh some sense to the debate.

I thought Cleverley's fight against Murat was a bloody good win - it proves beyond doubt that he is a European Class operator.