By Scott Gilfoid: #2 WBO, #8 IBF, #10 WBA cruiserweight contender Tony Bellew (23-2-1, 14 KOs) will be fighting next m onth on June 26th against an opponent still to be determined at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK.
Bellew, 32, hasn’t fought in the past seven months since his dull 12 round split decision win over Nathan Cleverly last November. It was a poor performance from both fighters. After months of hype building up the fight, it was a very boring fight. However, Bellew got the win and was able to move forward.
Bellew’s promoter Eddie Hearn has talked recently of getting Bellew a world title shot against one of the cruiserweight champions, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen until 2016 if then. It’s perhaps for the better for Bellew because he doesn’t appear to match-up with any of the current cruiserweight champions in Marco Huck, Denis Lebedev, Yoan Pablo Hernandez and Grigory Drozd. For that matter, Bellew would very likely struggle badly if put in with the actual top five contenders in the division like Thabiso Mchunu, Dmitry Kudryashov, Ilunga Makabu, Krzystof Wlodarczyk, Ola Afolabi and Rakhim Chakhkiev. It’s not likely that Hearn will match Bellew up against any of those dangerous fighters. Instead, my guess is Hearn will continue to match Bellew against fringe level fighters of 2nd tier guys before he gets him a world title shot in 2016, likely against IBF champion Yoan Pablo Hernandez. Some boxing fans believe that Hernandez is the weakest of the four cruiserweight champions.
Look for Bellew to fight a fringe level guy that presents little in the way of risk to him. I think Hearn isn’t going to take any chances with Bellew before he gets him a title shot in 2016.
I see Bellew eventually getting knocked out once he finally fights a good cruiserweight. Once he’s beaten, I think he’ll give up his experiment at cruiserweight and move back down to light heavyweight like Cleverly did. There arguably much better fighters at cruiserweight than Bellew. If he chooses to stay in this weight class after he gets beaten, he’ll be wasting his time. There are just too many superior fighters.
Also on the June 26th card is British heavyweight David Price (19-2, 16 KOs) facing German fighter Erkan Teper (14-0, 9 KOs) for the European title. The 6’5″ Teper has never fought anyone good as of yet despite being up there in age at 32. There’s a purse bid scheduled for a week from now. Teper isn’t ranked in the top 15, and it’s unclear why Price’s promoters at Sauerland are wasting his time with him rather than an actual contender. Perhaps it’s a confidence thing.
Price, 31, has been dealing with injuries while rebuilding his career following a pair of losses to Tony Thompson in 2013. Price has won his last three fights, albeit against weak opposition. It’s likely that the 6’8” Price will continue facing weak opposition for the time being. I don’t really see the logic in that because he’s getting up there in age, and I don’t see him really improving at this point. About the only thing that Price can do is try and stay at the level he’s at in my view. He needs help with his chin and stamina.
In other fights on the June 26th card, super middleweight contender #3 WBC Callum Smith (16-0, 12 KOs) will be fighting #11 WBC Christopher Rebrasse (23-3-3, 6 KOs) in a 12 round bout for the vacant WBC Silver super middleweight title. Rebrasse is the same guy that George Groves defeated by a 12 round unanimous decision last September in a one-sided fight. Rebrasse looked like he didn’t deserve the high #1 ranking at the time. Smith recently defeated Olegs Fedotovs (19-21) by a 1st round knockout on May 9th. Smith is being angled for a shot against WBC champion Badou Jack in the future. #7 IBF super middleweight contender Rocky Fielding (20-0, 11 KOs) will be fighting middleweight journeyman Brian Vera (23-9, 14 KOs). It’s unclear why Fielding is fighting a middleweight, but I guess they have their reasons. Fielding defeated Fedotovs in his last fight in March in beating him by an 8 round decision.
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