Bellew: I Want A Rematch

Although he gave clev all the respect in the world he has stated on bunces boxing hour he wants a rematch. he says that he has watched the fight back 3 times and says he knows he won 6 rounds so did not lose. to be fair i like many others although couldnt quite give him the fight had it a draw with a lot of close rounds.
do you think that he deserves a rematch and would you be up for it or should the fight again seeing as it was very good? to be fair considering how he performed i would be up for it... what you lot think?

Deserves a rematch somewhere down the line should Cleverly still be champ. Bellew should focus on getting a European title then a reasonably tough fringe title fight.

I think Cleverly was very sloppy at times and have a feeling a rematch would be more conclusive in the Welshman's favour next time, especially given Cleverly's 4 years younger. Clev was lucky to win that and got by the skin of his teeth.

Not at the moment. Same as Groves and DeGale shouldn't rematch yet. Later on down the road maybe. As close as it was, I gave Cleverly the fight and so did the judges unanimously. I think a rematch at the moment wouldn't be so close think maybe Cleverly would alter his gameplan and box more. If Bellew fights like that again though he could go places but his stamina would need to improve. Fair do the fight was far more entertaining than Hopkins and Dawson which was a shambles.

It wasn't a UD Jimmy, it was a MD.

Wasn't it?

Your right. One judge had it a draw if I remember correctly? My bad.

to be 100% fair i think part of the reason bellew tired late on was clevs very good body work think it had something to do with it

Rematch but NOT in Liverpool. I'd be intrigued to see whether the fight would be as tight in a neutral venue.

rather see a rematch of that than see him take on enzo mac to be fair

Given that Bellew had done nothing to earn the shot in the first place I think not offering him an immediate rematch is about fair. As other posters have said, he's shown he more than deserves an Euro title shot so maybe in 3-4 fights time depending on what each fighter has achieved in the interim.

And in a neutral venue, Wembley arena maybe or Brum.

i would hardly complain to much about giving bellew a chance at clevs belt that he won, oh wait a minute.....

as for a neutral venue, cant see it. doesnt make buisness sense. why put it somewhere you get half the crowd when you can fill a arena in liverpool as its very close to both fan bases

compelling and rich wrote:i would hardly complain to much about giving bellew a chance at clevs belt that he won, oh wait a minute.....

as for a neutral venue, cant see it. doesnt make buisness sense. why put it somewhere you get half the crowd when you can fill a arena in liverpool as its very close to both fan bases

Manchester or London might sell well.

manchester maybe sell more than london balti, but even then its hardly going to be neutral. be alot more scousers than welsh i would have thought

your just making there fans travel that little further

For Bellew to stand a better chance of victory, he needs to work on his conditioning. Arguably he lost that fight in the last two rounds.

compelling and rich wrote:i would hardly complain to much about giving bellew a chance at clevs belt that he won, oh wait a minute....

In fairness to him he was there to fight the champ and win it fairly but was ducked and, for once, the champ was punished as a result.

Apparently he broke his hand in the 5th round, and Cleverly went in with a broken rib. David Haye/(Carl Froch) take notice.

TopHat24/7 wrote:

compelling and rich wrote:i would hardly complain to much about giving bellew a chance at clevs belt that he won, oh wait a minute....

In fairness to him he was there to fight the champ and win it fairly but was ducked and, for once, the champ was punished as a result.

yeah i know, but still winds me up when clevs running around calling himself a world champ calling out hopkins when he hasnt even won a title

compelling and rich wrote:

TopHat24/7 wrote:

compelling and rich wrote:i would hardly complain to much about giving bellew a chance at clevs belt that he won, oh wait a minute....

In fairness to him he was there to fight the champ and win it fairly but was ducked and, for once, the champ was punished as a result.

yeah i know, but still winds me up when clevs running around calling himself a world champ calling out hopkins when he hasnt even won a title

Yeh, can't disagree with that. Was a little cringe-worthy when they were being interviewed on the ring apron re a rematch and straight away Clev said "No, I want with winner of Hopkins-Dawson", kind of admire the ambition but think he's getting a little ahead of himself.

I think a rematch would be a good idea myself. It gives Cleverly a chance to show that he can lear and improve, the fight do good business and it would be competitive. Hes not ready for the top gus, and at least with Bellew he is garaunteed a gu that will come to fight and give everything, and he will know what to expect. Better than some unheard of Eastern ranked WBO opponent in my view.

Im really not sure what the appeal for Hopkins to fight Cleverly would be so Im surprised to see this fight being pushed. At the stage Hopkins is at in his career the titles are largely irrelevant - especially a paper one held by a reasonably lightly regarded Cleverly. I would say he would be far more interested in a Dawson rematch or even Cloud if hes going to opt to continue. Maybe even a move to cruiserweight to secure a title in another weight class or a rematch with Tarver would be better for him. Cleverly brings almost nothing to the table that would interest Hopkins as far as I can see.

While Bellew performed much better and ran the fight a lot closer than a lot of people (me included) thought he would, a rematch right now simply isn't what either fighter needs. With all due respect to Bellew, he did little to earn a shot so early on in his career, and Cleverly needs to be pushing on and looking at some bigger fights if he's going to make the kind of impact at 175 lb which he says he's capable of.

The fight will have been a good learning experience for Bellew, I reckon. But two defeats in a row (and although Cleverly's come in for a bit of stick, I do think he'd make it two in a row) at this stage would be damaging for him. A push for the European title and a few defences of it if he's successful is what Bellew should be looking at to fill the gap between now and 2013. If Cleverly's still got a belt by then, or if he's still at the higher end of the world ratings at least, then a rematch becomes a real possibility, and one which would sell, too.

DAVE667 wrote:For Bellew to stand a better chance of victory, he needs to work on his conditioning. Arguably he lost that fight in the last two rounds.

According to Dave Parris he lost it in about five others too!

88Chris05 wrote:While Bellew performed much better and ran the fight a lot closer than a lot of people (me included) thought he would, a rematch right now simply isn't what either fighter needs. With all due respect to Bellew, he did little to earn a shot so early on in his career, and Cleverly needs to be pushing on and looking at some bigger fights if he's going to make the kind of impact at 175 lb which he says he's capable of.

The fight will have been a good learning experience for Bellew, I reckon. But two defeats in a row (and although Cleverly's come in for a bit of stick, I do think he'd make it two in a row) at this stage would be damaging for him. A push for the European title and a few defences of it if he's successful is what Bellew should be looking at to fill the gap between now and 2013. If Cleverly's still got a belt by then, or if he's still at the higher end of the world ratings at least, then a rematch becomes a real possibility, and one which would sell, too.

I would probably agree if both guys were highly touted prospects. But I think Cleverly is, by virtue of being a world champion, past that prospect point. Bellew was never really highly touted as a world level operator. I think a rematch ticks a lot of boxes for each other. Its a competitive fight, it will earn both guys better money than most alternatives. If Bellew loses again he can move on. I dont think it would damge his career too much and the payday that goes with it would be welcome. If he wins then the benifits are obvious.

With Cleverly, its the chance to show he can learn, improve and adapt. Again its probably better money than some unheralded WBO ranked European and would sell well in Britain. Hes garaunteed another competitive test and a live opponent. The chance for him to push on and move up a gear if he has it.

Deserves one. Could have been a draw. Cleverly needed to win the last two rounds. He did that. Cleverly wants another crack at another belt though, but why not go for an immediate rematch if the money's right? Great fight, hats off to both of them

I see your point Manos, but I just feel that Bellew's had his chance now - why should he be given another, given that he's done little to warrant one in the first place? He made a good go of it, but didn't quite take it. No shame in that. If he was a bigger player in the 175 lb division than he currently is, I'd say a rematch would make more sense, but the fact is he's not.

Cleverly is supposed to be a world champion, so I'd like to see him taking a few more fights befitting a man of that status. He's had a couple of very 'middle of the road' defences in terms of the calibre of men he's been fighting - surely now is the time to press on? Not necessarily against the Hopkins or Dawsons of this world right now, but surely he needs to look at the likes of Shumenov or Cloud to at least show development in his career?

Don't want to see a rematch...Bellew loses by a greater margin after the I hate you garbage before the fight.....then they'll be making love after...

No thanks..

88Chris05 wrote:I see your point Manos, but I just feel that Bellew's had his chance now - why should he be given another, given that he's done little to warrant one in the first place? He made a good go of it, but didn't quite take it. No shame in that. If he was a bigger player in the 175 lb division than he currently is, I'd say a rematch would make more sense, but the fact is he's not.

Cleverly is supposed to be a world champion, so I'd like to see him taking a few more fights befitting a man of that status. He's had a couple of very 'middle of the road' defences in terms of the calibre of men he's been fighting - surely now is the time to press on? Not necessarily against the Hopkins or Dawsons of this world right now, but surely he needs to look at the likes of Shumenov or Cloud to at least show development in his career?

If he goes ahead and fights someone like Shumenov then I think thats fair enough. Im not convinced he will on the back of the last showing but I suppose its wait and see. I think rematching Bellew would be an excellent opportunity to develop and showcase improvement. I would agree that in world title terms Bellew didnt do alot to earn a shot although on the back of their fight it could be argued his performance was worthy of a rematch in a non title sense. I think its depends where Cleverly goes from here. I think a rematch offers more both financially and developmental wise than some eastern european for instance. I would make Cleverly no better than 50/50 against Shumenov and underdog to Cloud so Im not sure if its the time to make those fights just yet.

Someone else made the point on another thread that I agree with insofar as Cleverly seems to relying on little more than a good workrate and stamina to win at the moment. Boxing wise he looks very average. I would see a rematch with Bellew as a learning oportunity and a chance to raise his game. Plus the first fight was good, competitive and close with a good build up that appeared to be genuine rivavlry. In that regard from a purely entertainment perspective Id have no problem with a rematch and would tune in. But if Cleverly does decide to push on I think thats fair enough my fear is he will just take a sideways/backward step in the form of an uninspiring title defence and I think he also has to be careful not to overreach himself because to be honest I think he looks not much more than European class and needs development fights rather than world level ones if he is to hang on to his title at the moment.