By Scott Gilfoid: In his moment of glory last night, Tony Bellew (27-2-1, 17 KOs) called out David Haye and IBF/WBA cruiserweight Denis Lebedev for fights. Bellew dared Haye to come down to the cruiserweight division to face him, even though it would mean that Haye would need to lose 24 pounds of muscle to make that fight a possibility.
For Lebedev, Bellew says he would need to come to the UK to fight him, which is another unlikely possibility because Lebedev attracts large crowds in Russia for his fights. I think it would pretty much destroy Haye to lose 24 pounds of muscle right now to drain down to 200lbs just so that he can fight Bellew in a fight that wouldn’t make nearly the money that a fight against Anthony Joshua would make.
If Haye did make that mistake, then he could forget about having a chance to beat Joshua. He might still get the fight against Joshua, but his body would likely be in shock from losing 24 pounds and then putting it back on.
We saw how Roy Jones Jr. was never quite the same fighter after he bulked up for his fight against John Ruiz at heavyweight, and then took the weight of to go back down to 175 for a fight against Antonio Tarver. Haye would likely still whip Bellew even if he got back down to 200, but he would likely be a mess after he put the weight back on to fight at heavyweight once again.
Bellew was pretty excited last night after winning the WBC cruiserweight title. He was saying repeatedly that he’s the best fighter in the division. Unfortunately, that is something that Bellew will never be able to prove for different reasons. I mean, let’s be real about this. Bellew is never going to face ALL of the top cruiserweights in the division.
Look at the guys that Bellew has faced thus far at cruiserweight. It took him too years to fight Ilunga Makabu, who I don’t see as being anywhere near as good as the top cruiserweights in the division like Olesandr Usyk, Murat Gassiev, Krzystof Glowacki, Marco Huck, Denis Lebedev, Mairis Briedis or Beibut Shumenov. Do I see Bellew fighting those guys? Nope.
Not in this lifetime. It looks to me like Bellew is trying to cash out by calling out Haye. He must know that he’s going to be in for a world of hurt when he defends his WBC title against his mandatory challenger, which in this case is the talented Mairis. That fight comes next for Bellew unless he can give him a step aside payment or if he can get a unification fight.
Haye is not a champion, so the WBC will not let Bellew bypass Mairis unless there’s a step aside payment offered. If Bellew goes aheads and fights Mairis next, I see him losing. There are no ifs and buts about that. Mairis is in another class than Makabu both inside and talent. The things that Bellew was able to do with Makabu, he won’t be able to do to Mairis. That guy is too smart, too polished and way too talented.
“You’ve gone long enough fighting those clowns,” said Bellew to Sky Sports after his 3rd round knockout win over Ilunga Makabu (19-2, 18 KOs) to win the vacant WBC cruiserweight title last Sunday night at the Goodison Park stadium in Liverpool, UK. “I’m the best, I don’t care what they all say,” he said. “Denis Lebedev, I’m not coming to Russia. Come and get this, baby, because I’ve got the main belt now. I’m the man to beat in this division, come and get this. I just beat the best cruiserweight in the world, I’m the best now.”
Bellew having the WBC title doesn’t mean anything. We’ve had champions holding the WBC title and it doesn’t mean they’re the best. I mean, look at WBC welterweight champion Danny Garcia. He’s holding the WBC belt and he sure as heck isn’t considered to be the best fighter in the welterweight division. Adonis Stevenson is holding the WBC title at 175, and he’s not seen as the best fighter in the division. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez just gave up his WBC middleweight title, and he wasn’t seen as the best in the division.
Let’s face it; Bellew probably isn’t even the 10th best fighter in the cruiserweight division right now. I’m just saying. I see the following cruiserweights better than Bellew: 1. Olesandr Usyk 2. Krzstof Glowacki 3. Marco Huck 4. Murat Gassiev 5. Denis Lebedev 6. Mairis Briedis 7. Beibut Shumenov 8. Grigory Drozd 9. Yunier Dorticos 10. Dmitry Kudryashov 11. Olanewaja Durodola. There’s nothing wrong with Bellew being the 12th best fighter in the cruiserweight division. It’s not No.1 in the division like Bellew was blabbering about, but he’s a good solid No.12. There’s a chance that some of the cruiserweights that I have ranked below Bellew could rise up and whip him if given the chance.
I think Bellew would have a lot of problems trying to beat guys like Rakhim Chakhkiev, Youri Kalenga and Thabiso Mchunu. Those would be very, very tough outs for Bellew, but he might get a victory over them if they make the same mistakes Makabu did by not throwing a lot of punches and just backing up against the ropes like a simple sparring partner.
Here’s what Haye said on his Instagram site:
“That punch that dropped you in the first round; your brain got scattered because it really looks like you want to get knocked out for calling me out and talking about wanting to knock me out,” said Haye on his Instagram. “You must have lost your mind. After I’ve knocked out Shannon Briggs, who has been giving me a lot of that [lip service], you want to be on the list too? I’m knocking out all people who are talking too much. Get on the list, mate. You’re getting smashed to bits. I used to be a cruiserweight. Both of us are about the same height, the same size. Let’s do it if you want,” said Haye.