By Scott Gilfoid: Former EBU super middleweight champion Danny McIntosh (13-2, 7 Ko’s) will be taking a step down in competition when he challenges British super middleweight champion Tony Bellew (16-1, 10 KO’s) for his strap on April 14th at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK.

This is a minor strap compared to the European Boxing Union title that the 32-year-old McIntosh lost recently against the talented Eduard Gutknecht in an 8th round TKO defeat last May. McIntosh fought well in that bout until getting caught with a series of hard right hands from Gutknecht in the 8th round resulting in McIntosh turning his back and retreating. The referee pulled a quick stoppage in my estimation because McIntosh had a little life in him and might have been able to survive the round to continue fighting. But it’s all good, because McIntosh can use the Bellew fight to reload and go back and try and recapture his EBU title.

I like McIntosh in this fight. Bellew has terrible stamina if you get him into the second half of his fights, and he doesn’t seem to react well when he’s starts getting clouted over the head with big shots. In his last fight, a 12 round majority decision loss to WBO light heavyweight champion last December, Bellew didn’t have to worry about getting hit with any big shots because Cleverly can’t punch his way out of a wet paper bag.

But the worry is going to be coming back for his bout against McIntosh because McIntosh can punch at least as hard as Ovil McKenzie, who had Bellew on the canvas twice in their fight in December 2010. Since then, Bellew has become a really cautious fighter like he doesn’t want to risk getting hit anymore. The thing is he’s going to have to get hit a lot by the hard hitting McIntosh because he’s going to be bringing the fight to Bellew and giving him a beating.