Nathan Cleverly and Tony Bellew Get Heated at Press Conference
by Scott Christ on May 19, 2011 12:01 PM EDT
in Boxing Video
Email
Print
Nathan Cleverly is now the full WBO light heavyweight titlist, as the body has promoted him from interim status after stripping Juergen Braehmer. Braehmer pulled out of the Saturday fight yesterday, opening a spot for Tony Bellew.
And let's give some real credit to Tony Bellew, too. This is quite a fight to take on incredibly short notice, and while he's been kind of a big-mouthed guy in the past, he's clearly at least willing to back up his mouth. He's wanted a fight with Cleverly, got a last-minute chance, and has taken it. His skills have been criticized, but I don't think we can question his guts.
Today's press conference got pretty hot with the two, and frankly at this point I'm more excited to see this fight than I was the Braehmer bout I never really expected to happen in the first place:
(Language NSFW)
What a hoot. I seriously prefer this to No-Show Braehmer, in part because I was a bit worried Braehmer would knock out Cleverly, which would have meant more Braehmer holding a title in our future. Now he's basically a non-entity. Without the belt, he's just a guy in Germany who never fights.
Bad Left Hook will have live coverage on Saturday of the Cleverly vs Bellew and DeGale vs Groves card, starting at 3pm EDT.
49 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
How do you see this one going, Scott?
Given your Braehmer preview on the podcast is now obsolete. I read that Bellew was a stone (14lbs) over just yesterday, and he reported as much on his Twitter page but quickly changed his tune, saying he was just 6lbs over. Cleverly said at the press conference and I’m thinking the same, that Bellew is going to be seriously dead at the weight and I think Clev stops him in the middle rounds. 1.73 for Cleverly inside the distance looks a steal to me, I think Bellew’s power is overrated and Clev has a decent chin on him to boot, can’t see it going 12
Bellew
looks drained already to me and as you said, his power could well be overrated and he’s totally one dimensional.
by Matt Mosley on May 19, 2011 12:29 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah
Gotta love the guy though. Classic hearing the guy from Sky asking them not to swear and Bellew straight after goes ‘’lets do it now then you fucking rat!’’
Cleverly without much real trouble at all. I think he blows him out of the ring. But I gained serious respect for Bellew taking this fight.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on May 19, 2011 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions
Bellew is very correct when he says not many would take a world title shot at a few days notice. Clev and him have a bit of history in the words department and I think the whole Braehmer pulling / Bellew coming in has upset him a bit . Clev. should have at least praised Bellew’s big gonads for taking the fight .
No matter what happens on Saturday Bellew has my respect. I just hope he doesn’t win.
Disarm you with a smile ....
by Sir Jack Daniels on May 19, 2011 12:50 PM EDT up reply actions
may be very interesting for 3 rounds
Disarm you with a smile ....
by Sir Jack Daniels on May 19, 2011 12:52 PM EDT up reply actions
Bellew's got a set of big ones
He posts fairly regularly on some other site, and I at least admire his chutzpah. The way I see it though, he’s too overconfident to ever improve enough that he becomes a force on the world level.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Yes Brick. Colin Hart spoke much of Bellew’s attitude during the Bellew/Ovill Mckenzie fight . I remember Hart saying something like " he thinks he’s a world champion already" and that basically he thinks he’s much better than he actually is. I kind of agree – he looked shite during much of that fight , especially the bits when he was on the deck. NC should stop him and stop him early to mid. imo.
Disarm you with a smile ....
by Sir Jack Daniels on May 19, 2011 2:28 PM EDT up reply actions
Cleverly
was a bit uncharacteristically disrespectful to Bellew there.
I know he must be p***ed off with Braehmer’s no-show and personally i don’t give Tony much chance either but he should have shown him more respect, imo.
Still, it might make for an entertaining brawl now, although Cleverly is miles ahead in the skills department, imo…The weight cut won’t help TB either.
He def deserves big respect for taking this on such short notice though and here’s hoping for two entertaining fights.
Definitely deserves huge respect
However, Bellew is so good at selling fights you have to wonder why Warren didn’t let this one cook for a while because its a guaranteed sellout as a lone headliner
I just mean that he’s let go of an event that would’ve been huge in it’s own right, especially with weeks of buildup behind it and the Scouse support Bellew brings. Still big, but Warren has taken a hit in potential earnings here and he should definitely be commended for it
He’s already said he wishes this fight was taking place at a later date, but its just about the best one available to save the main event.
"Occasionally, there is a boxing match that, in its demonstration of skill, courage, intelligence, hope, seems to redeem the sport - almost. Perhaps boxing has always been a sport in crisis, a sport of crisis."
by Oli Goldstein on May 19, 2011 1:17 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Frank was really between a rock and a hard place here. Sky Box Office event, main eventer pulls out, and he had to find someone. Bellew fit the bill.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on May 19, 2011 12:31 PM EDT up reply actions
I think maybe he was under pressure from Sky to pull out a proper opponent given what happened with the Khan situation. Two embarrassing PPV sagas in a row would’ve been a huge blow
Two? Don’t forget Fraudley!
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on May 19, 2011 12:34 PM EDT up reply actions
Also
I don’t know if you’ve seen it but DeGale and Groves have put their respective purses up for grabs on the outcome of the fight. Sure they have. It makes me sad that Sky are now going to drum this into the ground and pretend as if this is actually going to happen. This is straight out of the WWF.. LOSER LEAVES TOWN MATCH!!
I seriously prefer this to No-Show Braehmer, in part because I was a bit worried Braehmer would knock out Cleverly
There’s people on this site who know more about Braehmer than i do but really, looking at him on youtube and looking at his record, i didn’t see a major threat to Clev.
Nathan’s got a good chin and against an experienced guy like this i’m sure he would have boxed cautiously, at least until he started seeing real openings.
I mean, Braehmer lost to Mario Veit and Hugo Garay and i can’t even name his best win cos i don’t recognose any of the names!
I think Nathan was ready for that level and, imo, too much should not be read into his last fight where he faced an awkward guy on very short notice.
Braehmer has pop, and my worry was that if Cleverly fought stupid (as he sometimes does), he could get caught. And I just loathe Braehmer, so that would have ruined my Saturday.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on May 19, 2011 12:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Anything can happen against a banger, i suppose, but i don’t think he would have brawled too much in this one. I’m hoping he’s gonna start to pick when to fight and when to box as he gets more mature.
by Matt Mosley on May 19, 2011 12:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Agreed Matt. I thought Nathan was too good for Braehmer but did think Braehmer had a shot given Clev. goes off plan somewhat sometimes!
Disarm you with a smile ....
by Sir Jack Daniels on May 19, 2011 12:44 PM EDT up reply actions
Just reading
Boxing News and Bellew, as the expert pundit on Braehmer-Cleverly, actually says something similar.
“You’ve got boxer against puncher.And the longer the fight goes the more desperate Braehmer’s going to get because Cleverly’s going to build up an early lead. He’s going to outwork Braehmer and then Braehmer’s going to start unloading the heavy shots. Braehmer is extremely dangerous.”
When I said something similar yesterday I received a torrent of abuse!
Still searching for an alive Dan Tucker.
And
i was mad at Braehmer (still am a bit) but i shouldn’t have had a go at you for having an opinion so, sorry about that. :)
I have also read since that a few others had the same opinion as you and, me not knowing much about Braehmer, i started to take it on board.
I still think Clev would have won though.
In my estimation
Braehmer has improved considerably since his losses. He’s sort of like Marco Huck-lite.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
It's sort of an upset pick, but Clev has tired a bit late, and Braehmer tends to come on late
In this one, well, Bellew probably punches as hard as Braehmer, but really telegraphs his punches.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
How about a fight between
Braehmer’s latest two never-to-be opponents, Cleverly and Shumenov?
You know who i would pick….Any chance that happens down the line if they stay undefeated?
Neither of them seem to lack for stones when picking opponents, but Shumenov does have some sort of legal entanglement with Goossen Tutor right now. I think they’d fight each other if it came down to it.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on May 19, 2011 1:31 PM EDT up reply actions
yeah
what SC said…lol I remembered hazily Shumenov having promoter issues.
"I live what you talk. I Live What You Talk.'’ (Bernard Hopkins)
And then Joe thought, OH maybe everyone wants to see it again, and, when no one wanted to see it again, decided to trounce Mario Veit all over again.
"Occasionally, there is a boxing match that, in its demonstration of skill, courage, intelligence, hope, seems to redeem the sport - almost. Perhaps boxing has always been a sport in crisis, a sport of crisis."
by Oli Goldstein on May 19, 2011 1:20 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I think
he had no choice but to make that fight at the time. I can’t remember the exact circumstances, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t want to fight him again.
"I live what you talk. I Live What You Talk.'’ (Bernard Hopkins)
Well, for two lines, it beats Pascal’s press conference.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on May 19, 2011 12:44 PM EDT up reply actions
LMAO
They shouldn’t just strip him of his title they should also strip him of his liberty imo.
I read he was wayyyy over weight about a week ago. W@nker.
Disarm you with a smile ....
by Sir Jack Daniels on May 19, 2011 1:27 PM EDT up reply actions
comedy interview
pretty good replacement bout. Not impressed by Cleverly saying ’you’re dead at the weight’ (don’t let everyone know pre-fight he’s going to be drained, mate). Bellew’s non-commital response on the weight/training question makes it clear he’s got a bit of a problem….lol all credit to him though
"I live what you talk. I Live What You Talk.'’ (Bernard Hopkins)
So that`s true.
Cleverly should better win then, as otherwise the belt might find its way back to Braehmer soon: Kuziemski is fighting for Universum Boxing Promotions.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanShots on Bad Left Hook
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
