By Scott Gilfoid: #1 WBC Tony Bellew (20-1, 12 KO’s) thinks he’s the kryptonite to neutralize WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis “Superman” Stevenson (22-1, 20 KO’s) at the end of the month in their fight on November 30th at the Colisee de Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Bellew sees the 5’11” Stevenson as a short fighter that he’ll be able to expose once he takes away his power. How Bellew intends on negating Stevenson’s power is something that he’s not saying, but that’s what Bellew believes he’s going to do.
Bellew said to Sky Sports “They hype Stevenson up to be the next coming of Mike Tyson, but the fact of the matter is, he is just a little man with a big punch. I am going to defuse that punch and just turn him into a little man. November 30th can’t come soon enough…I am going to turn this division on it’s head on November 30th.”
In terms of raw power for his size, Stevenson is the best puncher in all of boxing. Heavyweight Deontay Wilder is probably the biggest puncher in all of boxing, but Stevenson is the best pound for pound. What makes him so incredible is the fact that he can punch with amazing power with either hand, and he can punch with devastating power from any angle. He’s not dependent on a certain angle to deliver his amazing power.
Bellew really wants this title shot, because he blew it the last time he fought for a title against former WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly by gassing out badly in the last four rounds of the fight. But Bellew’s dream of becoming is going to have to wait a little while longer because he picked the wrong guy to try and realize that dream. I mean, maybe if Bellew had targeted the WBA champion Beibut Shumenov, he’d have a chance at winning the title. But Stevenson is far too strong, too talented and too fast for Bellew.
It would be interesting to know what Bellew’s plans are to try and take away Stevenson’s power, because I don’t think there is a way to do it. Bellew got really worked over in his first fight against the much faster Isaac Chilemba earlier this year. But in the 2nd fight, Bellew chose to maul and wrestle for 12 rounds to negate Chilemba’s power. It worked for Bellew, because he was able to win the fight, but I thought he should have lost multiple points for the constant hugging that he did for 12 rounds.
The referee let Bellew hold without taking points off, but I don’t think that’s going to work in Canada, because Stevenson is a devastating puncher on the inside. If Bellew decides he wants to hold Stevenson for 3 minutes of every round then I see him getting nailed with a short left hand from Stevenson and knocked out after 2 or 3 rounds. Once Stevenson realizes that Bellew is just looking to spoil for 12 rounds by holding and/or running, he’s going to adapt by nailing him with huge shots in close. I don’t see Bellew being able to take those kinds of mammoth shots for long without kissing the canvas for the 10 count.
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