Bellew vs. McIntosh: Tony will win if he brings his ‘A’ game

By Boxing News - 02/15/2012 - Comments

Image: Bellew vs. McIntosh: Tony will win if he brings his 'A' gameBy Scott Gilfoid: British light heavyweight champion Tony Bellew (16-1, 10 KO’s) tasted defeat for the first time in his career in his last fight against WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly.

I didn’t agree that Bellew deserved to lose the fight, but he only has himself to blame for losing it because he ran out of gas in the last four rounds of the fight.

Bellew will be back in the ring for the first time since that loss when he faces former European Boxing Union light heavyweight champion Danny McIntosh (13-2, 7 KO’s) on April 14th at Echo Arena, in Liverpool, England. McIntosh, 31, lost his last fight against super talented Eduard Gutknecht by an 8th round TKO last May. Gutknecht, 29, is an exceptional athlete, and would likely beat McIntosh, Bellew and Cleverly all on the same night.

This guy is the real deal and I rate him a notch and half above the likes of Bellew, McIntosh and Cleverly. But as far as the Bellew vs. McIntosh fight goes, Bellew can win it if he tries to slug it out early. He’s going to need to because if he lets McIntosh stick around for the full 12 rounds, McIntosh has the boxing skills and the jab to wear Bellew down in the last four rounds much in the same way that Cleverly did.

I also give McIntosh a fair chance of beating Bellew in the power game in the first half of the fight because McIntosh is a fair slugger with a lot more heart in my view and a willingness to let it all out. Bellew seems too timid ever since tasting the canvas a couple of times in his win over Ovill McKenzie in December 2010.

It’s like Bellew had a bad experience and doesn’t want to suffer that fate a second time, but he’s going to have to because McIntosh will literally force him to slug whether he wants to or not. I rate McIntosh as a better overall puncher than McKenzie. I mean, he may not have McKenzie’s big right hand but he’s a got a better left hook and can punch almost as hard as him.



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