Hearn doubts Bellew is ready for Chad Dawson after poor performance against Chilemba

By Boxing News - 04/01/2013 - Comments

bellew33By Scott Gilfoid: Eddie Hearn, the promoter for WBC Silver light heavyweight champion Tony Bellew (19-1-1, 12 KO’s), questions whether the 30-year-old Bellew is ready to challenge for the title against WBC light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson when and if the opportunity presents itself.

Bellew fought to an unimpressive 12 round draw with #3 WBC Isaac Chilemba (20-1-1, 9 KO’s) last Saturday night at the Echo Arena.

Hearn said to the dailystar.co.uk “On that performance, maybe he [Bellew] is not ready for a Chad Dawson, so maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. Maybe he needs to build again, learn more and come back better because I don’t think on that performance he may have been able to deal with Dawson.”

Let’s be real here. If that had been Dawson in the ring with Bellew on that night, he would have clowned Bellew and beat him by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision.

Bellew looked like a domestic level novice in trying to overpower Chilemba with his crude skills instead of boxing him. It was truly a primitive performance from Bellew. You can only blame the promoter for having kept Bellew in with too many mediocre guys that kept him from developing his boxing skills. He’s gotten in a bad habit of trying to run everyone over with his power and never got a chance until the Chilemba fight to face someone with skills that he’d have to beat in a different manner.

A lot of boxing fans felt that Bellew, fighting in his own hometown of Liverpool, got a gift draw because many people felt that he should have lost the fight. Even Bellew’s fans were as quiet as church mice after the final decision was announced.

Normally when fans feel there was a robbery, they bellyache and make themselves heard. In this case they quietly excited the arena without any boos. That told you what they thought of what happened. How could they boo when Chilemba totally dominated the entire second half of the fight, making Bellew miss again and again with his shots.



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