Tony Bellew's behaviour...

Hi All,
Just finished watching the weigh in for Cleverly vs. Bellew II and, whilst I was initially delighted to see things go off fairly smoothly, I am still bothered by Tony Bellew's behaviour in the run-up to this fight.

Sure, boxing today is increasingly about promotion and hoopla, but I feel there is a line that shouldn't be crossed especially taking into consideration relatively recent events that have tarnished boxing such as the Haye/Chisora scuffle, Tyson Fury's offensive twitter rants, Floyd Mayweather's jail time for domestic abuse, etc, etc, etc.

Up until recently I was thinking Cleverly might just edge the fight, though I am now leaning towards Bellew as I just haven't seen the fire or inspiration from Clev. However, that won't counteract or justify the way Bellew has conducted himself throughout the fight's build-up, and Just skimming through the various press conferences and interviews, all I'm seeing is Bellew spouting hateful, extremely over the top bitter rants - complete with ridiculous contradictions - and unstable body language. Even when it comes to Cleverly's turn to speak, he is constantly interrupted by Bellew, who proceeds to use childish, school bully insults.

I don't know, am I being far too conservative and reactionary, or is there a principle that needs to be adhered to and has Bellew overstepped the mark this time? - which is saying something coming from him - and I'm not sure what message it sends out to impressionable youngsters when the guy switches from disproportionate Ad hominem attacks of Cleverly to talking about what a nice, family man he is, merely trying to "feed his wife and kids with his fists".

Yes you are being far too conservative and reactionary.

How can you be upset at the behavior of fighters before they lace up and try to seperate each other from thier senses???

ONETWOFOREVER wrote:Yes you are being far too conservative and reactionary.

How can you be upset at the behavior of fighters before they lace up and try to seperate each other from thier senses???

Maybe I am. As for them lacing up and separating each other from their senses, boxing does actually have fair guidelines and is far removed from a street brawl.

Bellew looks super confident..Like a guy who knows he nearly won at an alien weight and now has a big advantage at his new one..

And he has....Clev hasn't got the power at cruiser.

I personally don't think Bellew is any more motivated than Cleverly. He seems at odds with himself, flipping between 'I'm doing this because I love to fight' and 'I'm only doing this to feed my family'.

Cleverly probably doesn't see what he can gain by being as highly strung. It'll do nothing for his motivation and in terms of theatre Bellew's over the top performance needs a straight man to counterpoint in selling the fight.

In terms of behaviour and setting an example, I'm not bothered personally to be honest.

I guess we all read signals differently because I see Cleverly looking far more confident than Bellew.

Your not the only one thinking like that Marlon. I don't mind it per se (although a lot of it has come off as forced this time round) but a few people think it's childish and ridiculous.

still want Bellew to win though.

Who ever wins should become a World champ...Awful division

The point raised by the OP is wether we should be concerned at the insulting behavior of boxers these days.

For me it is a non issue. This is fighting not equestrian or squash. Boxers are emotional none more so then in the lead up to a fight. This aint a team sport so their is a lot of pressure on each fighters shoulders. Its not about may the best man win its ''I am going to win'' so Bellew is doing nothing different.

Fury is just a muppet in and out of the ring, he is an exception. You get fighters like him like Mayorga, Tyson, etc.

Nothing against either fighter but want Bellew to win however, just read that Bellew has said he's prepared to go to the trenches.

Now you all know how I feel about that infuriating Froch-esque bollox-talking so I've decided I want Cleverley to win...then punch himself to the ground meaning that there's only room for Enzo Macc at the CW table.

Whoever wins this is still miles off a world title fight. Huck, Hernández Krysztof all discombobulate these guys in a few minutes.

Nothing beats Hoppo running for his life in Puerto Rico

I thought Bellew looked bloated, while Clev looked solid on the scales. How can he say he killed himself making light heavyweight, but come in with a gut?

By the way, did anyone see his rant about Boxing Asylum with Kugan yesterday? It was hilarious, basically said that they don't deserve an opinion because they've never boxed, I guess that means 99% of fans shouldn't have an opinion then.

hampo171 wrote:I thought Bellew looked bloated, while Clev looked solid on the scales. How can he say he killed himself making light heavyweight, but come in with a gut?

By the way, did anyone see his rant about Boxing Asylum with Kugan yesterday? It was hilarious, basically said that they don't deserve an opinion because they've never boxed, I guess that means 99% of fans shouldn't have an opinion then.

When you read some of the sh!t that gets posted on here, you think Bellew might have a valid point

hampo171 wrote:I thought Bellew looked bloated, while Clev looked solid on the scales. How can he say he killed himself making light heavyweight, but come in with a gut?

By the way, did anyone see his rant about Boxing Asylum with Kugan yesterday? It was hilarious, basically said that they don't deserve an opinion because they've never boxed, I guess that means 99% of fans shouldn't have an opinion then.

He's a sensitive boy isn't he !! Say's he doesn't care what people think about him and then has a rant...

In other words you can have an opinion as long as it's a positive one of him..

I like your s**t Dave..

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

hampo171 wrote:I thought Bellew looked bloated, while Clev looked solid on the scales. How can he say he killed himself making light heavyweight, but come in with a gut?

By the way, did anyone see his rant about Boxing Asylum with Kugan yesterday? It was hilarious, basically said that they don't deserve an opinion because they've never boxed, I guess that means 99% of fans shouldn't have an opinion then.

He's a sensitive boy isn't he !! Say's he doesn't care what people think about him and then has a rant...

In other words you can have an opinion as long as it's a positive one of him..

I like your s**t Dave..

"What happens at the Oyster..." and all that TRUSSY

Bellow seems very easy to wind up and comes across as a bully who can't separate from fighting in the street and a paid professional fight.

Some fighters need to hate their opponent to get in the mood, maybe he's that guy?

I see the fight as a 50/50 pick 'em bout but would lean towards Cleverley to win on points.

Valero's Conscience wrote:Bellow seems very easy to wind up and comes across as a bully who can't separate from fighting in the street and a paid professional fight.

Some fighters need to hate their opponent to get in the mood, maybe he's that guy?

I see the fight as a 50/50 pick 'em bout but would lean towards Cleverley to win on points.

Bellew strikes me as the kind of guy that would do anything for you If he likes you..........But If he doesn't he bears grudges..

Think he's basically a nice guy with a few demons underneath.....

Very charismatic though.........and Boxing needs charisma.

I find Bellew really strange to watch in interviews, maybe it's just me but doesn't all his ranting seem very contrived? I've actually never really bought into this 'huge rivalry' between Bellew and Cleverly, the way they rant about each other, it all just seems a bit camp to be honest, overly theatrical promotional twaddle. With Groves and Froch, you really got the sense that Groves got under Froch's skin, I don't get that sense from these two.

I see what you mean Truss, Gypsies have that same characteristic!

He's certainly made a grudge match sell which I never saw as a grudge match.

Seems Groves and DeGale have nearly come to blows backstage with Groves' wife and Degale's mum getting involved

Bellew is a strange one. I can see your point marlon, good to see you on here by the way fella remember you from the beeb, I 'm not sure it sets a great example, but then I'm not sure its a sport for role models. There may have been less cheesey hype back in the day, but boxing was still full of thugs and murderers!

What I will say for bellew, is that for a guy who always talks up the big ko then generally gets on his bike in the fight... And has beaten absolutely no-one of note in his career... He's done a fine job of selling this.

Uktimately, I still think (regardless of the weight suiting them blah blah), its a fight between two mediocre boxers who I couldn't really care less about. So, he hasn't sold it to me, but he's certainly helped feed his family blah blah blah.

Bellew seems to need to get totally wound up and become an obnoxious Love sacks when he's building up to fight. Otherwise he's not a bad lad.

His slagging Kugan's dress sense and then walking away from the camera amused me.

I'll probably watch this the next day, as I'll be out the whole day tomorrow. Is there at least an alphabet soup title up for grabs here? The sooner they realise putting on 25lbs just makes you bum at a heavier weight the better. Hope Nate wins, as he at least looks organised enough to make a decent fist of a career at Cruiser. Bellew is just going to get slapped around the second he faces one of the medium dogs. Maybe even the small dogs, he'll definitely get nowhere near the big dogs.

In an ideal world, the winner gets fed to Oleksandr Usyk who inflicts a beatdown and establishes his name as a contender at 200lbs, thus accelerating the inevitable process of him winning a World heavyweight title.

Bellew has heaped all the pressure on himself and looks like has burned up a lot of mental energy. Having said that, Hearn will be all over a trilogy and Bellew is at home (and the bigger draw). I would expect the judges to have their Bellew glasses glued on.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

hampo171 wrote:I thought Bellew looked bloated, while Clev looked solid on the scales. How can he say he killed himself making light heavyweight, but come in with a gut?

By the way, did anyone see his rant about Boxing Asylum with Kugan yesterday? It was hilarious, basically said that they don't deserve an opinion because they've never boxed, I guess that means 99% of fans shouldn't have an opinion then.

He's a sensitive boy isn't he !! Say's he doesn't care what people think about him and then has a rant...

In other words you can have an opinion as long as it's a positive one of him..

I like your s**t Dave..

Exactly Truss. Bellew is full of contradictions.

milkyboy wrote:Bellew is a strange one. I can see your point marlon, good to see you on here by the way fella remember you from the beeb, I 'm not sure it sets a great example, but then I'm not sure its a sport for role models. There may have been less cheesey hype back in the day, but boxing was still full of thugs and murderers!

What I will say for bellew, is that for a guy who always talks up the big ko then generally gets on his bike in the fight... And has beaten absolutely no-one of note in his career... He's done a fine job of selling this.

Uktimately, I still think (regardless of the weight suiting them blah blah), its a fight between two mediocre boxers who I couldn't really care less about. So, he hasn't sold it to me, but he's certainly helped feed his family blah blah blah.

Cheers milkyboy. Hope you are keeping well mate.
I go back and forth with whether it's all just pantomime and nothing new - as you point out that boxing has always had it's shady characters - or Bellew really has gone too far, almost suggesting that so long as you mention the "wife & kids" bit, displaying disproportionate hate and ill will is completely OK.

Good point about Bellew's habit of talking himself up and then failing to deliver, even against mediocre opponents - makes his behaviour even more pointless. If he does lose and lose badly, it's doubtful we'll see him for much longer I guess. I'll hardly be gutted.

Just seen the Clev v Bellew weigh in. Usual taunts at Clev about being a sheep lover etc and Bellew encouraging the crowd to do it. For a nation that has produced some fine intellectuals over the years I'm surprised the English can't come up with something slighty more original now as the sheep thing is wearing thin. As for Bellew...this video by here shows how mentally unstable he is. Let's hope Clev gives him a career ending beating and shuts him and his Chav scum fans up once and for all

I'm good thanks marlon, if a little sleep deprived by the latest ankle biter, hope life's treating you well fella.

There's a touch of the froch's about bellew... Comes across quite well on matters that don't concern himself, seems a bit needy and insecure... and in his case that manifests itself in a macho hard nan persona. I guess in the bravado of boxing you have to cut some slack, but he's a but ott for my taste.

He was like a drunk in a nightclub at the stevenson press conference and barely threw a punch in anger in the fight. Maybe it's all just a front to mask his real intentions but it's not a surprise tactic anymore. Guess we'll see if he comes out swinging against a guy like clev who's not a puncher.

Cleverley's just dull. They're both average fighters. I've written too much on this considering I don't care who wins and won't be watching!

Interestingly in an interview earlier this week he said he had a good round 4 against adonis i must have missed that

He did catch him with a good shot to be fair.. Then normal service was resumed!

I read Bellew was goading Cleverly about attending AA meetings and warning him to stay off the ale? This is news to me. Cleverly had an alcohol problem after the Kovalov defeat?

He said he had a breakdown, called the AA, needed to recharge his batteries. Tony just got the wrong end of the stick.

I understand your disillusionment Milky. I did think Clev was quite promising back when he was beating the Oakey's, McIntosh's, Murat's, etc. But started to get a bit disenchanted with his career, funnily enough once he'd become WBO light heavy champ. Hardly his fault of course in terms of opponents that Warren was choosing, but the momentum just wasn't there and we all know how it ended once he faced a serious contender.

Granted, neither guy has proven themselves at elite-level, particularly at cruiser. But for me, if one of them is to do something long term and have a semi respectable ledger, it's Cleverly. That being said, I thought he looked quite emotionally drained in the post weigh in interview with Kugan Cassius on IFL TV. As for Bellew's "AA" taunts, again, the guy just stoops to a new low. Either way, whether he wins or loses, I hope he realises just how much his behaviour towards Cleverly has turned people off. Not like there was a lot of people who rated him mind.

Steffan, aside from the fact that it shows just how little self control Bellew has - swiping Cleverly's hand away, that video is interesting in that it also reveals that Bellew needs all manner of props to give himself every reassurance. Whether it's orchestrating and directing the crowd against Cleverly - at the weigh in, or making a point of wearing headphones - at both the final press conference and weigh in - to look like he doesn't care is so contrived and isn't fooling anyone.

I thought he swiped his hand away cause Cleverly was pushing it in his face. I don't think they like each other but I do think that a lot of this has been forced, so much so that i've only been able to watch snippets before turning it over (And I wish sky sports news would stop going on about it)

Cleverley looks intimidated to me..

Bellew stoppage.

Fully Agee with the OP, thie behavior displayed in the run up by Bellews is utterly pathetic, and unnecessary. Bunce wrote a good article ( yes he is capable of such things) recently about the Robinson - La Motta rivalry, who never needed to descend to this level a juvenile crap, as they were proper fighters that let their fists do the talking. Please spare the "he's a character, and that's good for boxing" bollox, the like of Bellews and Fury just push the sport ever closer to WWF.

Did he give Cleverly a big hug after the fight?

Had no bearing on the fight it was so cagey. Despite all the talk we didn't see a memorable punch land.

Also, let's not kid ourselves by comparing them to SRR and LaMotta. Some fighters can sell a fight just by turning up, do we honestly think without the chat between fighters Clev Bellew sells to anyone?

By the talk on here it barely did sell!