Bellew: If Cleverly trades with me, he sleeps

By Boxing News - 09/01/2011 - Comments

By William Mackay: Undefeated fringe contender Tony Bellew (16-0, 10 KO’s) seriously doubts that WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (22-0, 11 KO’s) will be brave enough to trade with him in their fight on October 15th at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England.

Bellew, 28, thinks that Cleverly will be too wary of his power to be willing to trade shots.

Speaking with the Press Association, Bellew said “No chance, not even a hope. I am not even preparing for that. He trades, he sleeps. You trade, you sleep. Simple as that. We’ll see on October 15.”

Bellew is really giving himself more credit than he realistically should get because he’s not a really huge puncher. He’s got a little bit of power, but he’s not a devastating puncher at all. His last opponent, journeyman Ovil McKenzie, had better power than Bellew, and he ended up losing to him by a 12 round decision when Bellew decided he himself didn’t want to trade.

This comes after Bellew was knocked down twice by McKenzie last December in an 8th round TKO. It looks like Bellew is projecting his own fear of trading onto Cleverly, because he’s going to be getting hit by him and he won’t be able to scare Cleverly away from coming at him with words. I just have my doubts that Bellew will be able to hold up for any length of time once Cleverly starts landing.

You have to realize that Bellew has been facing C level opposition for most of his career, and the journeyman McKenzie was a actually step up fight for Bellew but still a B level fighter. This was someone that Bellew should have been able to easily handle if he had even a thread of talent. It’s a bad sign that Bellew looked so horrible in the first fight with McKenzie and fought so defensively in the second fight. It looks like Bellew is protecting a weak chin.



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