By Scott Gilfoid: Eddie Hearn, the promoter for Tony Bellew (20-2-1, 12 KO’s), says he doesn’t feel that the 6’1″ Bellew has to lower his heights and start fighting domestic level opposition instead of world class competition following his 6th round stoppage loss to WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson (23-1, 20 KO’s) last night at the Colisee de Quebec, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Hearn says he’s going to work to get Bellew a third world title shot. I guess the old saying ‘Three’s a charm’ comes into play for Bellew.
Hearn said “He’s [Bellew] had two title shots at world titles. He has to go for a third one.”
A third world title shot for Bellew? At some point Hearn might want to consider moving on and finding a contender that actually has the talent to win a world title, because I just don’t see it with Bellew. Hearn probably will be able to get Bellew a third world title shot, but it’s going to take a while before he can build him back up to a high enough contender status to get him a crack at one of the belts at cruiserweight or light heavyweight. It look Bellew two years to get another title shot after his 12 round decision loss to WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly in 2011, so I see it taking another two years before Hearn can set up a fight between Bellew and one of the world champions.
Hearn went on to say that Bellew was just one round away from where he had planned on attacking Stevenson to go for it. I guess the plan was for Bellew to bide his time and wait for Stevenson to tire out, and then go after him in the 7th or 8th round in an a furious attack to try and stop him. What a fail. I could have come up with a better plan than that in my sleep. With Stevenson’s power, speed and immense talent, you can’t wait until the 7th round or later in order to try and stop him, because you’re not going to last that long against him. Even if you are one of the rare ones that can make it to the 7th round, you’re probably going to be too punch drunk by then from having absorbed his massive shots to do anything.
What Bellew needs, besides a new trainer, is a someone that can give him good fight plans for his bouts. He needs a Freddie Roach type of guy that can call him up and give him a fight plan to follow for his fights. Bellew can have someone train him in the UK, but he needs an experienced guy like Roach to give him a blueprint to follow in order to beat the top fighters, because there’s no way that I could see Roach telling Bellew to take it easy for 7 rounds and then go after Stevenson. Roach would have known that Bellew wouldn’t make it that far. He’d have likely told him to swing for the fences from round on and throw a lot of shots in flurries to try and get Stevenson out of there.
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