BoxRec

Having finally, after missing him three times for various reasons, seen bomber in the flesh, i will say what I was positive about tonight (i'm sure the rest of you good folk will sooner or later bring the negatives up):

He had a plan B, early going awful but he tried something different whereas last time out he didn't seem to adapt at all.
Showed a lot of patience, started working the left hand more and walked Ovill onto some nice little counter left hooks.
Looked much better when holding centre ring and having Ovill come to him rather than following him around, I thought.
I was starting to think Ovill might be in trouble from around rd6 or so.
When you landed to the body with the right it was the hardest punch of the night.
Landed by far the loudest punches of the night.
Showed decent handspeed for a big lad I thought.
Tony, I think you are much better when you're not trying to force the right hand. much more effective when you're using the left more and the right opening up from it.
Ovill was/is a right awkward bastard. reminds me of a poor man's Kamumbay at 175lbs.

He recovered from the knock downs well. The second one I thought he was on another planet when it hit but he was up at about 6 telling the ref he was 'fornicating fine'.

aye it was a heavy heavy shot. some of those counter left hooks were sweet shots from bomber.

It was also an awesome fight! He showed a lot of heart and recuperative powers to come back and win. I thought the stoppage was early, but it was clear he was starting to take over.

yes. i turned to matt/orbtastic after Tony started turning it round, after a bill which had underwhelmed us, and said 'this is saving the night'.

i thought when the right hand landed for the 2nd knockdown he was out but he bounced back up so fair play to him

He won and showed plenty of grit to come through.

That's pretty much it.

The lad needs a quick knockover job in his next fight to get this smashing machine crap out of his head and needs to knuckle down, and get some muscles on those legs. He looks dry at 175, needs to move up to cruiser and fight around the 185-190 mark.

Good little fight that.

Bellew looks uncomfortable when other guys spoil or don't hang their chin out, almost frustrated they don't oblige him. Well as he goes up the levels guys ain't gonna oblige him.

That 2nd KD was huge, he didn't even put his hands out to break his fall, he looked like he was flying in the replay.

He won. And that left hook was lovely

Ive seen his last 3 fights and I'm startng to worry a little bit to be honest. He doesnt set up his punches well. His right hand is not thrown fluidly, and the jab has no snap.

He reminded me of Noel Quarless style wise - it is worrying that Ovill McKenzie - as tough as he is, isn't world class and lets be honest - he let Tony Bellew off the hook a number of times but Bellew came back to take the win so no complaints from me - the right man won even though it is McKenzies own fault.

Once he started doing what Anthony Farnell was telling him (use your jab) he had a lot of success and it was a very exciting fight. It will be interesting to see who is next. Fair play to Tony, he showed guts and courage but he has to realise that it aint the OK corral in there and he won't be knocking everyone out in a free-for-all.

fantastic fight well done to both fighters after the fight they spoke about moving up in weight does Bellew find it hard to make the 12st 7lbs limit ???

Entertaining fight. I thought Ovill would do himself justice when afforded a proper camp.

To be fair to Bellew he got up both times. Bit of a shame Ovil wasn't afforded the same courtesy, but hey ho, a good win and learning fight for bomber.

the biggest positive about this fight was it made my £15 worthwhile as all the other fight's were not good.

that was fight of the year :!: i hope bellew has a good rest & dont lump it on to quick, he's been taking alot out of his body & as jamie moore found out you need your body to rest as the batteries need re'charging.

Apart from 2 stupid first rounds, he controlled the fight from round 3 and was winning comfortably. The minute he started with the jab and lining the shots up he got back into his stride and ended up winning well. Really hope he sets up Danny Mac for the British next.

Well done bomber and well done to all the fans who stayed behind to give him good support as well. I was really impressed with the support from Liverpool, not many places are like that. It was my first time there and really hope for more big nights.

A really entertaining fight Tony showed some balls and Ovil impressed too. He didn't deserve that stoppage.

That and Smith/DeGale were the best to from the whole card.

Good recovery powers and got the win. Generally looks to predictable though I'm afraid.

My main positive is that during the 3rd round I put money on Bomber winning by stoppage!

Thought he was pretty good if you missed the first 2 rounds. Showed a really clear head and started boxing much much better. Think he'll take a lot out of his last 2 fights and be much better for it

He relies on his power to much, against Ajisafe he kept looking for the big shot and was getting picked off, and against McKenzie he looked like he was going to start off boxing but caught and it looked as though it affected his confidence a bit. But fair play to him for coming back and getting another (hard fought) W

Should move up to cruiser imo Did well to get up from the second knock down he hit his head hard as he landed dont know how he got up. Stoppage was too early imo

He did get up twice and go on to knockout his opponent. The second knockdown was a very heavy one too, not many lightheavys on the domestic circuit would have got up from that. I would like to see Bellew use his jab more and put his punches together more following the jab, as opposed to loading up on big single shots. When he used his jab consistently, he was controlling McKenzie. And whether you like him or not, you know he's going to be in even more exciting fights in the future!

Tony showed he`s got Big Balls, (and I don`t mean coz he was wearing tight shorts)

I agree with others, that may be he would be more suited to Cruiserweight. He did look all arms and Legs in there. But credit I thought he was a gonna after the 2nd round.

It may make him consider a new trainer.

Put down twice in as many rounds, got up both times. The second looked a concussive shot which didn't tell once Bellew had regrouped.

From the 3rd round on, didn't fight like someone who'd just been through the above.

While not necessarily a positive, 2 of our best current world champions experienced a 'bad spell' early on against fighters perceived to be several levels below them. Haye against Mock and Thompson. Khan against Gomez, Limond and Prescott. Bad days and bad defeats aren't surefire indicators that a fighter won't make it, they're warning signs that something needs to be addressed.

Stuck with it, broke down and eventually dropped and stopped a very game challenger.

beagleboy wrote:It may make him consider a new trainer.

I don't see why - did his current trainer advise him to go and slug it out with McKenzie?