Saturday Night Round Up – Usyk Halts Brave Bellew In Eight

A great night of action lit up the Manchester Arena, as Tony Bellew came up agonisingly short in his bold bid for all of the Cruiserweight Titles. Here’s my review of the night’s proceedings.

Oleksandr Usyk resisted the brave efforts of Tony Bellew to retain his WBC, WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and Ring Magazine Cruiserweight crowns in Manchester. Bellew started well, and didn’t allow Usyk to settle in to any kind of rhythm in the first half of the contest.

Bellew was landing with good, single shots in the early going, confusing the Ukrainian with his movement and ability to stay out of range. The counter right hand of “The Bomber” was regularly finding a home. Usyk slowly but surely figured out the Bellew puzzle from the sixth round onwards, closing the gap on Bellew and belatedly getting his jab going. Bellew was visibly slowing and tiring.

Going into the eighth round, Bellew was three points up on one card, one point up on another, and level on the third. Usyk could sense his opponent fading though, and he capitalised to the full. A short right was followed by a monster left hook, which dumped Bellew on the canvas by the bottom rope.

The count was started by referee Terry O’Connor, but was halted midway through as Bellew’s trainer Dave Coldwell waved the fight off. Usyk never panicked even though he was behind, and finished the fight like a true Champion. It’s looking like a move to Heavyweight for Usyk next, and he will be  a mouth watering addition to the division.

The Undercard

Anthony Crolla secured a shot at his old WBA Lightweight Title with a points win over the tough Indonesian, Daud Yordan. 116-112 across the board was the verdict. Yordan certainly came to win, and it was a close quarters fight with no quarter given. The difference was Crolla enjoying slightly more success than his opponent, especially to the body, and Yordan went missing in the middle rounds, allowing Crolla to build a healthy lead.

Ricky Burns was simply a level above his Scottish compatriot, Scotty Cardle in their Lightweight encounter. A massive left-right combination in the third secured the win for Coatbridge’s Burns, who will hope for one last World Title tilt before retirement.

It was the same shot that allowed Josh Kelly an early nights work as he continues to impress. He blew away the hapless Walter Castillo inside the opener of their Welterweight. A left-right combination did the trick for Kelly, flooring Castillo. The Argentine never recovered, and a whirlwind of shots forced the referee to intervene. Such is the Sunderland man’s quick progression, he meets Russin, David Avenesyan, a former interim WBA World Champion, on the Kell Brook undercard in Sheffield next month.

It was a wild shootout up at Heavyweight, as the ever popular Dave Allen outlasted Arial Esteban Bracamonte. The Argentine pulled out at the end of the seventh with a suspected broken nose. It was a back and forth bloody war, with Allen taking more than his fair share of shots throughout. Both men were visibly tired early on, but both kept swinging for the fences. Allen finally broke Bracamonte’s resistance in the seventh, with his face a bloody mess. His corner had seen enough at the end of the round and he was withdrawn from the fight.

The Sky Sports Box Office opener saw Sam Hyde suffer his first defeat, as a horrific eye injury forced trainer Joe Gallagher to throw in the towel in the eighth round of his contest with Richard Riakporhe. Hyde was ahead on the cards when he caught a massive right hand above his eye, and the swelling was immediate and grotesque.