WBC number one mandatory challenger Tony Bellew gets his shot at world glory on Saturday night when he faces the super-punching-powered Adonis Stevenson in Canada.
Bellew impressed when he pushed Nathan Cleverly all the way two years ago in a WBO title bid, which he lost by a majority decision. Since then he has rebounded with wins over the likes of Edison Miranda and Isaac Chilemba, the latter of which he faced twice due to drawing with the Malawian fighter.
Stevenson moved to the super-middleweight division this past year after unsuccessfully trying to get Carl Froch into the ring, only for the Nottinhham man to instead opt to face Mikkel Kessler in a rematch. Stevenson knocked out Chad Dawson in the first round and broke down Tavoris Cloud, a fight in which he showed he wasn’t just all power with no other substance. He displayed athleticism and patience to allow the knockout to come naturally, which it finally did in the seventh.
Tony Bellew always talks a good fight but has disappointed many observing him in action and struggling with the likes of Chilemba does not bode well for his chances against Stevenson, who seems to be on a whole different level in most departments in comparison including power, speed and footwork.
Unfortunately, I do not believe that this is another Macklin vs Sturm situation where people were giving him a realistic chance of winning. If Stevenson keeps producing great performances then he has a rosy future ahead of him mixing with the elites of the light-heavyweight division, and I do not foresee him having much trouble with Bellew, who I think is European level, fringe world class at best.
I predict an easy stoppage victory in favour of Stevenson, a challenge that should be all over in three rounds, maybe even less. And then Adonis Stevenson can focus on trying to get the big fights with the likes of Bernard Hopkins and maybe Sergey Kovalev, which would be a mouth-watering contest.
