Tony Bellew

Just seen on twitter that he is now ranked number 1 by the WBC, and if he comes through his next fight he could get a shot at the winner of Dawson vs Pascal.

So does he stand a chance at the highest level? Will his willingness to go toe to toe be his downfall?

He can give anybody a good fight.....I'd pick him to beat Pascal.......

Interesting to see If that cut takes a prominent role in his career like Tyrell Biggs when he kopped a bad one..

Pick him to beat Cleverly too..He has improved greatly and is full of confidence.

Good on im. Think he can compete at world level, though doubt he'll ever be top 3 at his weight. Starting to make Clev look a little silly now, maybe his #1 contender status might tempt Clev into a rematch now? He can't say he's the clear leader anymore, level plaing field almost now and if beating Bellew raises him in their rankings he might just decide to take the fight.

Would be an even money fight if he fought Cleverly again, but would be beaten by either Dawson or Pascal. For a big man at 175, for me Bellew does not make use his assets of boxing behind a dominant jab with big right hands. Also he does not rattle of enough combos either and would be out slicked by the leading Americans and could once again be out worked by Cleverly, but would be in the fight due to the face first style that Nathan employs.

ive not seen him go toe to toe since the first Mckenzie fight. seems to be a bit of a myth building up around Bellew at the moment. His last two fights were largely dull affairs against unambitious fighters. Pascal would stop him within 4 rounds for my money. unless Bellew dances backwards for 6 rounds like hes prone to

I'd say a fight with either American would depend on which verison of Bellew turned up. I can't see him employing the awkwardness shown against Miranda and that dude cut him whose name I can't remember to much success against Dawson, who'd simply out negative him. I'd pick Dawson to be too classy a pure boxer for a more aggressively minded Bellew too but then it could at least be competitive.

Pascal would be interesting. He's so explosive early and falls off so often late. Pascal stopping him before six wouldn't be unlikely, but if Bellew gets through the first half and makes it competitive the last six could go either way.

How I see it..

Defo a myth re Bellew and tear ups but its one Bomber likes to push I think. He's better than ever right now though, looks well rounded and hungry and deserves a decent ranking. Matchroom seem to match their guys up well and Bellew has been on a good curve. He stands a chance against the likes of Dawson and Pascal but he'd be a strong underdog, especially boxing in the States.

Regardless of whether or not Bellew is deserving of a good ranking it's probably best not to mention it (and more specifically the WBC) in front of ESPN's Dan Rafeal judging by his Twitter feed!

I'd like him to rematch the all conquering warrior Clev and beat him.

Bellew is definitely deserving of a good ranking and is vastly improved from the guy who was decked by Ovil.

But...there is something telling me he wouldn't get the job done against Dawson.

Would like to see him have a few more fights before a world title, he is progressing nicely.

Fair play to the lad and has been in with a good level of opposition for someone who only has 20 fights what people sometimes forget

Thought he drew with Clev in the first fight and I have only seen improvements in Bellew since then as Clev's development has really stagnated due to lack of opposition quality

I don't believe he can beat Dawson, although Dawson can blow got and cold too often, but I would give him a good chance over Pascal as others have mentioned with Pascal's tendency to fade and not throw enough to win rounds but untill Bellew fights at that level again we won't really know. Won't beat Dawso , has a good shot at beating Clev/Pascal/Cloud

KingMonkey wrote:Regardless of whether or not Bellew is deserving of a good ranking it's probably best not to mention it (and more specifically the WBC) in front of ESPN's Dan Rafeal judging by his Twitter feed!

Yeh, been reading that. Hilarious. Fat Tinkywinky.

I think the aggressive version of Bellew could cause Dawson problems. Dawson likes to control the range and pace but if Bellew can put early pressure on him (like Pascal.did) he stands a chance. It not a 50/50 fight but Bellew would be a live underdog.

I think Pascal is a more.winnable fight for Bellew, a fight that he wouldn't have to make any real adjustments for. If he controls the range and lands his big right and doesn't go toe to toe often, he could. Think this one is more a 50/50 fight.