Bellew wants to beat Brudov to prove he’s an A-level cruiserweight

By Boxing News - 03/05/2014 - Comments

bellew74By Scott Gilfoid: #7 WBC Tony Bellew (20-2-1, 12 KO’s) will be returning to the ring this month to fight 37-year-old light heavyweight Valery Brudov (41-4, 28 KO’s) in a cruiserweight bout on March 15th at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK. Bellew was smacked around the ring in his last fight in his unsuccessful title challenge against WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson last November.

So instead of staying at 175, Bellew will be moving up to the cruiserweight division along with fellow Brit Nathan Cleverly to try and make his mark at that weight. What’s interesting, though, is that Bellew is fighting a light heavyweight in Brudov in his first fight at cruiserweight instead of an actual cruiserweight. In other words, Bellew is fighting in the cruiserweight division but he still has his toe stuck in the light heavyweight division. Yeah, doesn’t make any sense at all, but that’s Bellew’s decision to take this fight.

“I have to show I am a top cruiserweight and an A-level fighter,” Bellew said via Fightnews. “I believe I am but there is no point in me saying that, it is better for me to get in there and prove that. There are no easy touches there. The division is really good.”

It would be far better for Bellew to prove that he’s good enough to fight in the cruiserweight division if he were to fight an actual cruiserweight contender, someone like Thabiso Mchunu, Rakhim Chakhkiev, Ola Afolabi or Ilunga Makabu. I mean, Bellew would be able to find out in a real hurry whether he has the kind of talent to compete in this division if he were to fight one of these guys instead of the 37-year-old Brudov.

As far as Brudov goes, he’s lost 2 out of his last 5 fights with both defeats coming by knockout losses to Afolabi and Guillermo Jones. Brudov has won his last two fights against Jevgenijs Andrejevs (7-53, 3 KO’s) and Sergey Gorokhov (1-1, 1 KO’s). Those guys have great records, don’t they? Brudov really went way, way backwards with his career in his last two fights to get some wins, and it’s kind of weird given that he’s been fighting as a pro for the past 15 years. When you see a pro with 15 years of experience like Brudov fighting a guy with a 7-53 record, it sends a signal that something might not be right with his career.

And of all the people that Bellew would choose to fight in the light heavyweight division, Bellew picks out Brudov. To me, this fight seems like a waste of time for Bellew. He needs to move back down to light heavyweight division and forget all about fighting at crusierweight. He’s not going to be able to beat guys like Mchunu, Chakhkiev, Afolabi and Makabu. Those fighters can all punch as hard if not harder than Adonis Stevenson. If Bellew couldn’t handle Stevenson’s power, then he sure as heck isn’t going to be able to handle the power of those guys. Bellew is better off staying at 175. He’s not going to do anything at cruiserweight.



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