By Scott Gilfoid: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder’s promoter Lou Dibella is DEFINITELY interested in a fight between his tall 6’7” knockout artist fighter and heavyweight upstart Tony Bellew (29-2-1, 19 KOs) after the two of them had words last Saturday night before the Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitshko fight. Bellew was mouthing off about Deontay before the fight after the American shouted “Bomb Squad” to his many boxing fans in the audience. Bellew and Wilder then got into an argument.
Wilder sent a personal message to Bellew on his Twitter in showing him knocking out former WBO heavyweight champion Sergey Liakhovich in the 1st round. This was a message from Wilder letting Bellew know what could happen to him if he chooses to face him inside the ring.
Just A Friendly Reminder Mate…🤝 @tonybellew #TeaAndBiscuitsAnyone?📰☕️🍪 pic.twitter.com/sDAdd7oDuP
— Deontay Wilder (@BronzeBomber) May 2, 2017
Hopefully, Bellew isn’t scared off from fighting Wilder, because it would be an entertaining fight between them for as long as it lasts. Unfortunately, I can’t see Bellew lasting more than 1 to 2 rounds against a devastating knockout artist like Deontay. Bellew would be fodder for Wilder, because he’s not a real heavyweight and doesn’t have the power or the talent to give Wilder any problems.
Bellew didn’t even stick around the cruiserweight division to defend his World Boxing Council title against Mairis Briedis. A lot of fans think that Belllew ducked the Briedis fight by choosing not to fight the dangerous Latvian and instead opting to fight bottom fringe contender BJ Flores before moving up to heavyweight to fight the badly injured David Haye.
“Good things come to those who wait. You want to lose that belt in record time big man? I put my name on that contract you reign is over!” said Bellew to WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker last week on Twitter.
Bellew vs. Wilder would be an excellent fight for Deontay to help build up a much better fight in the UK between him and Joshua. If Wilder can become a bigger name in the UK by knocking Bellew out, it would create more interest in an eventual fight between Wilder and Joshua. However, it’s unclear how serious Bellew is about wanting to fight a dangerous heavyweight like Deontay.
I think what we saw last Saturday night from Bellew was more empty theatrics to increase his own star power in the boxing world by confronting a famous and highly talented heavyweight to show the fans that he’s not afraid of him. I think there’s a high probability that Bellew has zero intention of actually fighting Wilder. Bellew will fight for a world title at heavyweight, but I think he’s going to go in a different direction than facing a knockout artist like Deontay.
I’m guessing it’ll be either Joseph Parker or Anthony Joshua that Bellew ultimately fights. He’ll lose to both, but he might be able to survive the full 12 rounds against them, because he’s a good runner, as he showed in his fight with David Haye on March 4. Bellew won that fight after Haye tore his right Achilles tendon in round 6. Haye tore it without even being in an exchange of punches.
Haye was bouncing around on the soles of his feet on the outside when the injury occurred. Bellew had nothing to do with the injury. Nevertheless, once Haye was injured, Bellew took advantage of it and got back into the fight, which he was trailing at the time. Bellew then went on to win the fight by an 11th round knockout after Haye slipped through the ropes. If not for the injury, Haye clearly would have won the fight in my opinion. He was the better fighter before the injury.
Wilder’s promoter Dibella says he wants Bellew’s promoter Eddie Hearn to contact him so the two can start talks. Whether Hearn will actually do that is the big question. Bellew has options available to him for big money title shots besides a risky fight with Wilder. Bellew could also potentially fight WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker or fellow Matchroom Sport stable-mate IBF/WBA heavyweight Anthony Joshua at some point; although I don’t think that fight has any chance of happening until late next year at earliest.
“This is a fight that’s US versus UK and a fight with Tony certainly might help that story line right? I think it’s certainly interesting,” said Dibella to skysports.com about a fight between Wilder and Bellew. “Eddie Hearn knows how to reach me.”
I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for Hearn to call about putting together the Wilder-Bellew fight if I were Dibella. I can’t see that fight being made in this lifetime. As I mentioned already, Bellew will likely fight either Parker or Joshua next. It’ll almost surely be one of those guys that Bellew fights next after his right hand injury heals up.
After Bellew loses to Joshua or Parker, he’ll then look to fight a rematch against Haye on Sky Box Office PPV. The British boxing fans will still be interested in seeing Bellew fight Haye no matter what happens to Bellew against Parker or Joshua. I predict a knockout win for Haye over Bellew. At that point, Bellew retires from boxing. It’ll be game over for him at that point. His last 2 fights will be essentially cash out fights. Barring an injury like we saw in the Bellew-Haye fight, Bellew isn’t going to beat a healthy Parker, Joshua or Haye.
That’s not going to happen. Heck, Bellew wouldn’t beat a healthy Dillian Whyte or Dereck Chisora , I think those guys would destroy Bellew after chasing him around the ring all night. I would hope that Bellew would stand and fight rather than run around the ring like he was doing against Haye in the first 5 rounds of their fight on March 5. That was really boring to watch.
Make no mistake; the fight that Wilder REALLY wants is against Anthony Joshua. Wilder wants a unification fight against the vulnerable and badly flawed 6’6” Joshua. A fight between Wilder and Bellew would be more of a publicity type fight for Deontay to create more interest in a future match-up against Joshua. By Wilder destroying Bellew in the UK, it could setup a revenge type of scenario in which Joshua looks to avenge his fellow countryman and stable-mate Bellew’s knockout loss against Wilder.
Wilder-Bellew would be the absolute perfect setup for a Wilder vs. Joshua fight. Unfortunately, I don’t think Bellew is going to want to go along with the program by taking the fight with Deontay. The money that Bellew gets fighting Wilder likely won’t be nearly as much as he’d get fighting Parker or Joshua. Parker vs. Bellew might wind up as PPV in New Zealand, Parker’s home country. Wilder-Bellew would be a PPV worthy fight in the UK, but definitely not in the U.S. The casual boxing fans don’t know who Bellew is in the States. It’s not a fight that the fans would even consider purchasing.
Parker’s promoters at Duco Events might not be too keen on matching him against Bellew though. There’s not a tremendous upside in making that fight, given that Bellew is a non-champion, who has only had 1 fight during his career at heavyweight against an injured Haye. I don’t know if that’s a fight that would interest the boxing public in New Zealand, because Bellew is still unproven at heavyweight. He’s more of a talker than a proven entity at the heavyweight level. Parker would be better off fighting Wilder or Parker than Bellew. The last thing Parker needs is to fight someone that he’ll have to chase around the ring for 12 rounds in having to deal with Bellew’s running.
