Tony Bellew

Tony Bellew is just one of a crop of exciting young fighters lighting up a resurgent boxing scene in Liverpool right now. Heavy-handed and never short on confidence, the Everton fan has had 14 professional fights and at 27, is a man in a hurry. He has already won the Commonwealth title at light-heavy and has even set his sights on world-ranked Nathan Cleverly! Bellew though is used to getting things is own way. A former kickboxer he dominated the domestic amateur scene for three years, winning the ABA heavyweight title for three years in succession between 2004 and 2006. His unpaid record was all about quality rather than quality and with just 47 fights (40-7) he debuted as a pro in June 2007 and took two rounds to dismantle Jamie Ambler. Like so many of Frank Warren's young stars he is no stranger to the big stage and within a year as a pro had already boxed on Amir Khan undercards as he moved to 8-0 with a succession of four-rounders; his hard hitting ending five of those early. A keen fight fan, Bellew was an interested observer as Scousers Paul Smith and Tony Quigley went at it at the Echo Arena in October 2009, having taken less than 90 seconds to blast Jindrick Velecky out for his 11th and quickest win to date. His domestic and European light-heavyweight peers clearly posed little challenge and it was only when an opponent came out of Africa, via France, that he was taken the distance for the first time as a pro. Martial Bella Oleme made him work, although a landslide 60-54 victory showed he still had the wherewithal to win while learning. Bellew again came out calling for title shots and bigger names and was duly handed a crack at the vacant Commonwealth title. He took less than two-and-a-half minutes to make it is, pummelling four-fight novice Atoli Moore in March 2010. It also finally looked to put paid to the hand problems that dogged him throughout the previous year and by his own admission, slowed his progress. It would be another three months before he fought again, with unbeaten and awkward Bob Ajisafe the next to challenge for his Commonwealth crown. It was to be Bellew's steepest learning curve to date and he suffered the indignation of being put down for the first time as a pro in the fourth. On a frustrating night, he recovered to outwork the former Prizefighter man and as ever, was as critical of his own performance as any ringside expert.