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This afternoon at 3:00 pm EDT on Sky Sports 2 in the United Kingdom, Tony Bellew headlines in his hometown of Liverpool in a cruiserweight debut, as the former two-time light heavyweight world title challenger faces Valery Brudov in the main event.
Bellew (20-2-1, 12 KO) says that if he loses today, he'll hang up the gloves, and that honestly might be the right idea, given that the 37-year-old Brudov (41-4, 28 KO) hasn't fought anyone remotely decent since getting stopped after five rounds by Ola Afolabi in 2012. It's a toe in the cruiserweight water today for Bellew, who is looking to see how he feels at the weight.
Also featured on the card today is IBF mandatory welterweight challenger Kell Brook (31-0, 21 KO), who is looking to stay busy with a win and make his way to a shot at the Porter-Malignaggi winner, likely in July. Brook is facing Alvaro Robles (17-2, 15 KO), who like Brudov has a record that looks better than it really is. Brook has mostly been steered around serious tests thus far in his career, and today won't change that. It's all about preserving the title shot right now.
In an eight-round catchweight bout, Kevin Mitchell (36-2, 26 KO) is also looking to secure a title shot, as a win today over Mikheil Avakyan (21-11-4, 8 KO) may lead to a crack at IBF lightweight titleholder Miguel Vazquez on the Froch-Groves undercard on May 31. And super middleweight prospect Rocky Fielding (17-0, 10 KO) will face Charles Adamu (21-5, 15 KO) in a fight scheduled for 12 rounds. Fielding didn't make weight for the fight, so he lost his Commonwealth belt on the scales. Adamu can win the title.