By Scott Gilfoid: Cruiserweight Tony Bellew (21-2-1, 13 KOs) and heavyweight Anthony Joshua (6-0, 6 KOs) will be looking to impress in their respective fights tonight at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK.
Joshua, 6’6”, wants to show more mobility and speed to his game than what he’s shown in his first six tonight, as he’s looked somewhat of a flat-footed plodder thus far. Joshua will be fighting 47-year-old Matt Skelton (28-8, 23 KO’s) in a fight that promises to end quickly. It’s obviously not a good match-up, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn doesn’t want to take any chances with the 24-year-old despite him winning a gold medal in controversial fashion in the 2012 London Olympics.
Bellew has a lot more to prove in his fight against Julio Cesar Dos Santos (26-2, 23 KOs), because it’s more of a pick ‘em type of fight where either guy has a chance to win. I wonder if Bellew insisted on taking on a tough opponent, because we’re not seeing Joshua or Nathan Cleverly being matched tough tonight. Cleverly is fighting Alejandro Emilio Valori (15-4, 11 KOs), and it’s not even a fight that’s remotely competitive.
On one hand you’ve got a 50-50 fight with Bellew and Dos Santos, and on the other you’ve got Joshua and Cleverly in hopeless mismatches. Why isn’t Cleverly the one fighting the tough guy and Bellew the fighter with the soft touch? I mean, Cleverly is a former WBO light heavyweight champion, whereas Bellew is just some guy that fought twice for world titles and was beaten. Is there less to lose if Bellew gets beaten compared to Cleverly?
“I’ve got questions to answer again, and I always fight proven, tried and tested cruiserweights,” Bellew said to Skysports.com. “I believe I’ll come good and I believe I’ll look good every time I get in the ring now. Winning isn’t enough.”
You’ve got to give Bellew credit for fighting a fringe level guy. I’d like to see Bellew fight a top 5 cruiserweight, thought, but that obviously isn’t going to happen during this lifetime. But it’s still impressive that he’s fighting a fringe level guy like Dos Santos when you see Cleverly fighting a guy that is more of a 3rd tier fighter.
I thought originally Valori was second tier, but after watching a couple of his fights, I see him as pure 3rd tier, and I’m stunned that Hearn would bother making this fight. That knockout Cleverly suffered against Sergey Kovalev last year seems to have really set Cleverly back in a big, big way if Hearn is matching him against this level of opposition.
“The main thing I’m going in for is the win, and I want to showcase a bit of movement, counter-punching and a bit of dominance,” Joshua said to Sky Sports.”
Joshua doesn’t have counter punching ability, so that’s a waste of time. The only thing I see of Joshua is him throwing wild flurries when he gets hit hard. That’s not counter punching. But he definitely needs to try and learn how to move around the ring, because he’s too wooden, mechanical and heavy on his feet to compete against heavyweights that move around the ring well like Deontay Wilder and Wladimr Klitschko.
With as much muscle that Joshua carries in his upper body, I don’t think it’s possible for him ever to move well around the ring unless he takes off some of the useless body building muscle he’s carrying. If he could get down to 210, there’s a chance he might be able to move well, but obviously he’s never going to lose 30 pounds of muscle. If anything, I see Joshua eventually filling out to around 260 and look like Primo Canera with about the same mobility as him. Some guys just aren’t made to be mobile.
Comments are closed.