Tony Bellew and a promising fashion he did their first of Liverpool show
beaten Bellew in his hometown city before this won’t be Nathan Cleverly weigh in aheadfight, and use his
concern.
natural athleticism to avoid Bellewís power punches
Often, when a fighter is undefeated he takes real strength and out-work him. Particularly if Bellew doesnít win
from having never been beaten and believing that he
the opening rounds, the longer the fight goes, the
never will. A defeat like that by Kovalev can only shatter
more it suits Cleverly. However, beyond Bellew, there
that illusion and mean that that self-belief is lost forever. is one possible major obstacle preventing Cleverly
from doing that. So far as a cruiserweight, and as he
Much of this, of course, also applies to Bellew, but the
has occasionally in his career before now, he has been
crucial difference is that it was widely known, for some
guilty of moving towards his opponents in a straight
time, that he had consistently been struggling to boil
line. Against opposition of the calibre of Corbin and
down to the light-heavyweight limit. Indeed, as an
Valori, that carried less of a risk, but doing so against
amateur he competed as a heavyweight. It was almost
inevitable that, eventually, ìBomberî, as he is also known, Bellew will leave him vulnerable to taking the type of
punches that will sway the fight in his rivalís favour
would become a cruiserweight.
and probably give Bellew a win inside the distance;
his defence has simply never been one of Cleverly’s
In struggling to make weight, a fighter can lose his
strengths.
strength and punch resistance, sometimes making a
change of division logical. Bellew believes he will benefit
as a consequence, and Cleverly has already agreed that
his rival is ìbetter as a cruiserweightî.Since defeat by
Cleverly, Bellew has been involved in some worthwhile
fights, including two with Isaac Chilemba (one draw,
one victory), a victory over Edison Miranda and a sixthround knockout loss by the explosive Adonis Stevenson
for the WBC light heavyweight title. He also returned
from that just four months later, and in his two fights
as a cruiserweight has faced Valery Brudov and Julio
Cesar Dos Santos, tougher opposition than Cleverly’s,
suggesting he moved on from the Stevenson fight with
greater speed than his rival did his first loss.
He needs to ensure Bellew doesnít start in the same
Combining that with what looks to be a lack of hunger
from Cleverly and an illogical move in stepping up to
cruiserweight, Brawlsports make Bellew the favourite
for this fight and expect him to win via knockout,
probably by the ninth round. If he doesn’t, a loss by
Cleverly is one from which he can recover, as he has
already proven. If he does, because of that possible
lack of hunger, November 22 may be the last we see of
Cleverly in a competitive ring.
Written By Warren Demel
DECEMBER 2014 BRAWL SPORTS 15