Matthews vs Crolla/Bellew vs Chilemba......SPOILERS!

First topic message reminder :

Kicking off now on Sky.

Really looking forward to Crolla v Matthews. I'm shouting for Crolla.


I believe the under card was shown on the Sky red button from 7pm which is a new thing Matchroom have introduced

The were awful to score I agree. Got it even going into the last.

One to go, and I think Bellew needs the knockout.

Chilemba has picked up the pace in the second half and I've got him two up.

Bellew - Chilemba

1-0
2-0
3-0
3-1
3-2
3-3
3-4
3-5
3-6
4-6
4-7

I think this could go either way but I'd expect the hometown boy to nick it. Such is boxing.

Scored the last even and got it 116-114 Chilemba.

Think Bellew might get a split or majority decision though, being at home.

Chilemba won that for me, Bellew hardly landed a clean punch

Bellew - Chilemba

1-0
2-0
3-0
3-1
3-2
3-3
3-4
3-5
3-6
4-6
4-7
5-7


Very even to me. Bellew is the home fight so......

My God does Jim Watt get paid for his commentary?

Jim Watt is pathetic, he needs to shut up.

Feel for Bellew, get outta here. Chilemba was the classier operator and landed the cleaner punches. Bellew was pedestrian and wild.

Chilemba was the winner

Dunno what the commentators complaining for.

Sometimes I wonder if Watt watches the same fight as the rest of us.

Fair play to the two judges who gave Chilemba at least a share of it.

Sky in general are awful.

"Stunned arena" etc...

No, they are quiet because the fight was gash.

Close fight, hard to split.

And the propaganda begins...

"I'm the home fighter"

Slip of the tongue there Tony?

I have it the complete opposite to you guys, I thought Bellew won, Chilemba did a good job of making Bellew miss, but he also did next to nothing himself. It the event of that happening, I score to the aggressor.

It was a stinker of a fight and for the majority of it only one person was actually trying to win.

Lumbering_Jack wrote:Sky in general are awful.

"Stunned arena" etc...

No, they are quiet because the fight was gash.

Close fight, hard to split.

Totally agree. That was cringeworthy at times.

Bellew is clearly deluded if he thinks he won by 117-111.

Think this was a case of a guy expecting home cooking and complaining when it didn't happen.

Kudos to those two judges who gave Chilemba something.

It was a poor fight and Tony failed to take the fight. He was laboured and one dimensional.

Can't believe it was a draw, I thought Tony won it. But, you have to say he shoud have won it. Chilemba simply didn't do enough.

BoxingFan88 wrote:I have it the complete opposite to you guys, I thought Bellew won, Chilemba did a good job of making Bellew miss, but he also did next to nothing himself. It the event of that happening, I score to the aggressor.

It was a stinker of a fight and for the majority of it only one person was actually trying to win.

Aggression has to be effective - what I saw for the second half of that fight was totally ineffective aggression and slick countering from Chilemba.

Not gonna argue with a draw, but can't see a case for Bellew winning it.

I had it 115-115. Couldn't have complained with a point or two either way but 116-112 does seem a bit wide.

Happytravelling wrote:It was a poor fight and Tony failed to take the fight. He was laboured and one dimensional.

Can't believe it was a draw, I thought Tony won it. But, you have to say he shoud have won it. Chilemba simply didn't do enough.

Bellew punched an awful lot of thin air. Chilemba landed with his work and had Bellew on the back foot for most of the last eight rounds. Chilemba was just doing enough to win 6 or 7 rounds in my view. The draw was a fair enough result in my view.

I think Tony won clearly 4 of the first 6 and Chilemba clearly won 4 of the last 6. The other 4 were close and not a lot really happened in them. Can see why one judge had a 4 round swing.

I don't want to see a return though.

Cast a Shadow wrote:

BoxingFan88 wrote:I have it the complete opposite to you guys, I thought Bellew won, Chilemba did a good job of making Bellew miss, but he also did next to nothing himself. It the event of that happening, I score to the aggressor.

It was a stinker of a fight and for the majority of it only one person was actually trying to win.

Aggression has to be effective - what I saw for the second half of that fight was totally ineffective aggression and slick countering from Chilemba.

Not gonna argue with a draw, but can't see a case for Bellew winning it.

Aggression has to be effective to be scored above something else, but when the other guy does nothing at all then just an aggressor will catch the judges eye. If neither are landing and one guy is forcing the fight then he wins the rounds in my book.

Bellew looked poor but Chilemba didn't light the world up either, he was more concerned with making Bellew look bad than doing anything himself. He landed some good shots late in the fight but for a lot of it he was also missing.

Just been looking around the interweb and the reaction s pretty much the same as here. Sky are getting a lot of criticism for their commentary and calling of the fight. Nick Halling's talk of the outrageousness of the decision is coming in for particular ridicule.

As far as I can see most fans had Chilemba the winner with Bellew failing to deliver on his hype talk. A draw is being seen as reasonable.

Draw was a fair result. Hopefully no rematch. Bellew is boring. His prrsona is opposite from the actuality. A poor man's Haye.

Strongback wrote:Just been looking around the interweb and the reaction s pretty much the same as here. Sky are getting a lot of criticism for their commentary and calling of the fight. Nick Halling's talk of the outrageousness of the decision is coming in for particular ridicule.

As far as I can see most fans had Chilemba the winner with Bellew failing to deliver on his hype talk. A draw is being seen as reasonable.

Jim Watt was beyond embarrassing. Only Johnny Nelson called it how we all saw it.

Had really high hopes for bellew, really thought hed do it but he just didnt do enough, he definitly isnt world class at the moment, but i think if he is honest with himself, which wasnt the case in the post fight interview its a fight he should be able to learn from. It was a very close fight though.

Jim Watt needs to get shot, did any one else hear him say at the end "in times like these after the 12 rounds you need to forget all the maths and just think who deserves the win more" or something along the lines. Well Jim if that was the case why pay judges to score the fight? Bloody toss pot.

Props to Johnny and even Eddie Hearn for being honest. I had it 1 round to Chilemba myself. But i wouldnt have made a fuss if it had gone either way. If buddy did tell Bellew he won, i find that appauling as a trainer you should support your charge not tell the opponent he won

I don't think Buddy will be too happy with Bellew mouthing a private comment all over the TV minutes after the fight.

Bellew does seem to lack a bit of decency.

Bellows performance did not strike me as someone ''ready to die'' for the win.

It was a scrappy fight and fights like that can end up a draw or going the wrong way as there are so many close rounds... So on that note I guess a Draw cant really be a robbery as such.

That being said I think Bellew has more right to feel gutted about it as he was the aggressor and Chilemba was the one reacting to him and not the other way around. Chilemba will defiantly be the happier of the two and Bellew certainly has not had much luck with the home judges tonight.

Its a shame, I like Bellew, thinks he wears his heart on his sleeve and is a decent boxer.

From the fifth round on Bellew was not the aggressor, Chilemba took the centre of the ring and Bellew circled.

Bellew went somewhat on the front foot again in the last two rounds.

Strongback wrote:I don't think Buddy will be too happy with Bellew mouthing a private comment all over the TV minutes after the fight.

Bellew does seem to lack a bit of decency.

Chilemba looked severely embarrassed during that interview. I agree, it was classless on Bellews part.

What did Bellow say after the fight?

Another great fight by Mathews and Crolla, was impressed with Crollas boxing and feel if hed gone to the body earlier instead of focusing on the head he would have caused Mathews a lot more problems. There are a few rumours going round that Crolla wasn't well after the fight, hoping they're nothing more than rumours.

Bellew was poor, threw a lot of punches but didn't land however Chilemba went rounds without throwing so I'm not sure how that judge had such a clear gap.

I thought Bellew was almost completely inneffective over the second half of the fight. Despite being the bigger and more powerful man he also surrended the initiative and was largely on the back foot. Chilemba was just so much better defensively. I dont think the result was unfair although Chilemba was practically gave away the first three rounds through lack of agression. I would strongly favour Chilemba in a rematch as I think he could settle quicker and seemed to have Bellew tied up in knots by the end.

I had it to Bellew by one.............Problem with this moron Commentator is he only sees the work he wants to see........

However cannot see how anyone gives chilly 7 rounds..

Just watched the interview at the end and that was pretty cringeworthy...

Seems like there's quite a bit of trolling in this thread. Everyone's entitled to see a fight how they see fit, but to say Matthews won by a wide margin's just a bit silly, isn't it?

I had Crolla winning by two rounds. Thought he looked pretty comfortable late on and landed the cleaner punches. Excellent fight anyway, very happy to see it again.

Bellew really didn't impress. I've warmed to him a bit in recent months, but he's rarely exciting to watch. Again, i had him winning by two rounds.

Given how many close rounds there were in both fights, no-one can have any complaints with the draws, or couldn't have had if either had gone a round or two either way, but i get the impression that scoring fights ridiculously in-play keeps the WUMers amongst us briefly occupied.

Think it was Crolla's fight to win but he didn't do enough........to TAKE it!

If anybody wakes up with regrets it would be him.......

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Think it was Crolla's fight to win but he didn't do enough........to TAKE it!

If anybody wakes up with regrets it would be him.......

Probably a fair assessment - Crolla's domination of the last three rounds was almost total, but I couldn't work out for the life of me what he was trying to do between rounds four and nine. Lost most of those rounds through sheer inactivity.

Still, we get to see another fight to complete the trilogy, which might turn out to be one of the best domestic series of all time...

Matthews is 32-8-2.............Any fighter with lofty ambitions shouldn't be in a trilogy with him..

Maybe not Truss - and I've never been sold on him.

But Crolla is where he is, and needs to win a third fight if/when it happens.

Cast a Shadow wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Think it was Crolla's fight to win but he didn't do enough........to TAKE it!

If anybody wakes up with regrets it would be him.......

Probably a fair assessment - Crolla's domination of the last three rounds was almost total, but I couldn't work out for the life of me what he was trying to do between rounds four and nine. Lost most of those rounds through sheer inactivity.

Still, we get to see another fight to complete the trilogy, which might turn out to be one of the best domestic series of all time...

It looked to me like Crolla was a little gun shy after being knocked out last time and he completely changed his tactics to try and outbox Matthews on the back foot. It didnt work (except to Paul Smith Jr!) and I think it was only towards the end when he knew he had to go for broke that he reverted more to his natural style.

good analysis..

I think Crolla was afraid of getting sparked and was too conservative.

He needed to start with care given the last fight but he left it too late to get in close and work the body.

im suprised by the amount of people on here who scored the fight for chimeba, i had bellew 2-3 rounds clear, i thought the first 4 and last 2 rounds were his, and he would be unlucky not to win a few of the closer rounds too, chimbela did come on stronger in the second half of the fight, but even then he didn't do much, both men were missing badly, but bellew at least was throwing combos instead of single punches, and landing a few more. he was also controlling the ring better.

the problem with bellew last night was he doesn't know if he is a boxer or a fighter, he seemed to want to engage and throw, but kept deciding to box instead.

I felt Chilemba controlled the ring better, was defensively better and more accurate with his punches overall. His weakness was his workrate, especially in the first half of the fight.

To me it look likes if Bellew cant blast a guy out or dominate him early he starts to run out of ideas. I though Chilemba was too awkward for Bellew to control with the jab so Bellew ended up on the backfoot not really knowing what to do.

I actually felt that it was Chilemba who once he settled and upped his workrate and aggression that looked like he was the better fighter. The only way I think Bellew could beat Chilemba is by just outworking him or catching him with a monster punch. Im not convinced he has the boxing skills or brain to outbox him.

I wonder if Bellew is also a little gun shy himself. He seems to go into a shell somewhat when he gets tagged by a decent shot. He does seem to be a bit of a contradiction because he is probably a guy thats style is more of a slugger but who isnt really prepared to take one to give one. In his last three fights now he has started off quite aggressively but then had to eat a few back before he settled into a a kind of low workrate box and jab style when his opponents wasnt knocked out. It worked against poorer fighters in Bolonti and Miranda but I thought when it settled into a boxing match he came off second best against Chilemba for me.

to be fair to chimebma he seems a great fighter, and can imagine him giving a lot of fighters fits, but i think he let the early part of the fight go to bellew without doing much, then pulled the mid rounds back, but let bellew steal the fire back in the last rounds, and i thought he should have edged it.

that said bellew was lucky not to lose a point or 2 for low blows, and had he listened to his corner who were screaming for him to go to the body more he may have had an easier night.

what made me so sure he'd won was then reactions between rounds and towards the end of the fight to chimbela, and after the fight had ended it looked as if they knew they'd loss.

He seems a great fighter.................

i'd back him to beat cleverly and shimenov, both champions at the weight.