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

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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

I think he looked better than he was because Bellew was reluctant to throw anything. I'd back Cleverly with his workrate to beat him quite easily.

Great gets thrown about too easily sometimes but in my view Chilemba is a very decent operator and would be an awkward night for any fighter at the weight.

agree, think he frustrates cleverly just like he did bellew, and i'd actually back bellew over cleverly now as well.

I think I would take Cleverly to beat Bellew again in a rematch. I just havent really seen the big improvements in Bellew that some others have. Chilemba would very awkward customer for Cleverly I think. He reminds me of that guy Mohamedi that Cleverly fought a couple of years that Cleverly really struggled and looked pretty poor against. And Chilemba is probably better than Mohamedi.

I think Bellew struggles to really find his identity somewhat as a fighter. He seems torn between wanting to be a really crowd pleasing fighter and then trying to be a boxer that doesnt make mistakes and uses his skills. He ends up just confusing and frustrating himself then. You can almost see it in him when he boxes.

Finally got round to watching Saturday's card after a weekend away.

Another great fight between Crolla and Matthews which I had Crolla winning by a couple of points. I think he might kick himself when he sees the fight back and how he let Derry get ahead of steam in those middle stages, but there were still improvements to be admired in Antony's performance and his defence early on, before getting cut which seemed to plant a seed or two of doubt, was much tighter and his aggressive work much cleaner.

I'll be blunt with regards to the main event; for me, Bellew was poor and I'd go so far as to say that it's the worst we've seen him look since that close shave he had with disaster in the first fight against McKenzie.

Bellew's been making plenty of headlines recently but once more I have to say that I just haven't been as impressed with him as others. His defence was sloppy to say the least the other night, his work rate flat (particularly in light of the fact that Chilemba just wasn't fighting for three minutes of every round, and yet Bellew still couldn't take advantage of this) and, once more, the fight demonstrated that he just isn't this devastating puncher that he's repeatedly sold as.

I think the draw verdict was definitely kinder to Bellew than it was Chilemba, who I had marginally ahead after twelve. I thought the African's work had more class and was more effective for the most part and, if he can match that with a bit more industry in a rematch should it come to pass, he should certainly be able to decision Bellew by a reasonable enough margin.

I agree with Manos, insofar as Bellew, like Groves to an extent, just doesn't seem sure about what kind of fighter he wants to be. That said, the more I see him, the more I feel that, regardless of which path he goes down, the lad just isn't quite good enough to make it to the highest level.

I think we basically saw the worst of Bellew again the other night, both in his performance and some of his other antics, too. Chilemba looks a handy fighter, in fairness, but any boxer with aspirations of taking on the world's best at 175 lb in Dawson should really be getting past him.