By Scott Gilfoid: #7 WBC, Tony Bellew (20-2-1, 12 KO’s) will be making his cruiserweight debut on March 15th against an opponent still to be determined at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. Bellew, 31, was smashed by WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson in a 6th round TKO loss last November in Quebec, Canada.
Like Nathan Cleverly, Bellew reacted to his knockout loss by deciding to move up to the cruiserweight division. And like Cleverly, Bellew’s chances of success at the higher weight are about nil. Bellew wasn’t a huge puncher at 175, and he wasn’t blessed with blazing hand speed, an ability to throw lots of punches, or great defensive skills. As such, Bellew’s decision to move up to cruiserweight appears to be a disaster waiting to happen.
Bellew’s obviously going to be matched against fodder initially in his first few fights in that weight class, but once he’s put in with a live body, it’s probably going to be curtains for him. He’s too skinny and weak to be a cruiserweight, and his chances of doing anything in this division are low to the extreme.
It’s kind of up to Bellew though. If he’s okay with being a fringe contender at cruiserweight for the remainder of his career then this is a good decision for him. But if he actually thinks he can win a world title in that division, then I feel sorry for him because I don’t see that as possible. I mean, if you put Bellew in with the likes of Denis Lebedev, Marco Huck, Yoan Pablo Hernandez, Guillermo Jones, Krzystof Wlodarczyk, Ola Afolabi, Rakhim Chakhkiev, Firat Arslan, and Thabiso Machunu, he’s going to likely get drilled and knocked out.
I think it’s safe to say that Bellew will find his way back to the light heavyweight division sooner or later after he suffers a couple of devastating defeats at cruiserweight. He’ll recognize that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and will come back to 175. He says he has problems making the weight, but I think he’ll find a way to get around those problems. Bellow can be a contender at 175, and compete with some of these guys, as long as he stays away from Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson.
Comments are closed.