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The rematch
BELLEWS’ JOURNEY BACK TO HIS
OLD FOE NATHAN CLEVERLY
IN LIVERPOOL
WRITER JAMES BHAMRA PICTURES LAWRENCE LUSTIG
ILLUSTRATION CALLUM HARRIS
ony Bellew, once a weight
drained and grumpy light
heavyweight, faces his first
significant fight since moving
up to cruiserweight when he
gets into the ring with fierce
rival Nathan Cleverly on
November 22nd at the Echo
Arena in a rematch of their 2011 fight down at
175lbs. With Bellew now at a weight he feels
comfortable at, allowing him to focus more on
his training rather than melting down to make
weight, ‘the bomber’ has vowed to end his foes
career once and for all.
The contentious thing at this point in his career
was for Bellew to decide to fight at light
heavyweight. Having fought at Heavyweight
(which transcends to cruiserweight in the pro
game) his entire amateur career, moving down
to light heavyweight seemed like a strange
choice, especially considering the vast
difference in weight. The fact John Conteh won
and defended his WBC title at light heavyweight
may have had something to do with it, but that’s
just speculation, but it’s no secret that rom the
beginning of his career Bellew struggled to make
the 175 limit, having said further on in his career
that he walks around at 205lbs.
As a 16 year old, Bellew acted as a bouncer
alongside his dad on Liverpool’s nightclub scene,
also spending time as a DJ, lifeguard, trainee
accountant and labourer.
Making his debut on the 6th of October 2007
against Jamie Ambler, Bellew easily dispatched
his opponent in the second round, showing that
he had carried his power down with him, despite
his opponent being nothing more than a
journeyman. In his next fight he beat Adam
Wilcox at the millennium stadium, on the
undercard of Joe Calzaghe’s fight with
Mikkel Kessler. By 2009 he had advanced to 12-0
and was starting to get more and more people
to talk about him, and with 8 of those 12
victories coming by knockout, it appeared Bellew
did have some power in his fights at light heavy,
even if the opponents weren’t on his level.
T
But boxing was his real passion, and one man
in particular fuelled his desire to become a
prize-fighter. John Conteh. Arguably one of
Britain’s greatest ever fighters, at the peak of his
career Conteh won the WBC title at light
heavyweight. “John Conteh is an idol and an icon
in Liverpool and this country, He is possibly the
greatest fighter from this country, and he was
that good