Tony Bellew likely out until March 2013 due to cut suffered against Bolonti

Light heavyweight contender Tony Bellew is likely going to be on the shelf until March 2013 after suffering a bad cut against Roberto Bolonti., according to BoxRec News, as he recovers from an awful cut suffered in Saturday night's win over Roberto Bolonti in Nottingham.

The 29-year-old Bellew is hoping to land a WBC world title shot next year, as his win over Bolonti netted him the silver title from that organization. Chad Dawson still holds the full WBC title, and is expected to face Jean Pascal in March. After that, things could open up a lot more in the division, and Bellew may find an opportunity through another sanctioning body, too.

One fight a lot of people would love to see is a rematch with WBO titlist Nathan Cleverly, but given the promotional situations (Cleverly with Frank Warren, Bellew with Matchroom), that is highly unlikely.

More likely, Bellew will return from the injury time away with a fight on a similar level to his recent bouts, and wait his turn for a world title shot to open up. It's a wise strategy, and he could find himself in a WBC eliminator bout sometime next year, leading potentially to the world title shot he craves.