TONY BELLEW’S BID to become the undisputed cruiserweight champion ended in tears as he was stopped in the eighth round by Oleksandr Usyk in Manchester.
Underdog Bellew started brightly but was unable to hold off the excellent Ukrainian, who systematically picked off his rival before finishing the bout with a stunning left hand.
The victory extends Usyk’s perfect professional record to 16-0, retaining his IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO titles in the process with another demonstration of his undeniable talent.
The champion did not have it all his own way in the main event, however, as Bellew – cheered on by a raucous crowd – started brightly.
Having made clear his plans to walk away from the sport after the bout, ‘The Bomber’ looked intent on making the most of his high-profile swansong in the early rounds.
Playing to the crowd, he slapped his gloves onto his thighs in the second round, beckoning his rival in, before staring him down with a wide-eyed look after being caught by a counter as the bell sounded.
He also shook off a left hand with a smile in the next, but Usyk’s high work-rate and ramrod jab allowed him to assume control with each passing round.
The pace of the contest began to tell on Bellew, making a return to the cruiserweight division after two wins over David Haye at heavyweight, as the early optimism was beaten out of him.
A looping left put Bellew down, the Liverpudlian laid out on the canvas with his head dangling out between the ropes like washing in a strong wind.
While he made it back to his knees before being counted out, Bellew was in no fit state to continue. His hopes of bowing out in style were over, dashed by a brilliant foe who confirmed his status as the best at the weight limit.
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Ruddock Leavy Heaslip O Brien Van der Flier Murphy Fardy Conan Deegan Leinster back row strength is unreal If carlsberg did backrows they would probably not be as good as Leinsters
Rare to see two players joining straight from school in Aungier and O’Sullivan.
I just don’t know how Leinster are going to keep all these backrows happy but I hope they do.
The talent level being brought through is amazing.
@Gustave H: the great thing is the talent is flowing to the first team and beyond so they must know the way to keep them all happy.
@Gustave H: Let Ulster sign them to let them get game time.
@Christiaan Theron: I don’t think it’s a case of letting them. They want to stay and fight for their place.
From what I heard Ulster went in heavily for Jack Conan and he’d no interest.
@Gustave H: True. There’s one or two that would want to do a serious bit of thinking though. It’s admirable wanting to earn the starting spot here, but playing week in week out and in Champions Cup games in Ravenhill would stand to them more than a few Pro12 games during the Six Nations. It’s a short career, and waiting in line didn’t work out for Ryan or Madigan.
Some of these kids should go on loan to Ulster and London Irish
@Aidan O: They don’t want to.
@Lf: Shows how ambitious they are. Every player knows they have to play regular on the 23 for a province to get capped.
@Christiaan Theron: You’re right Christian, it does show how ambitious they are. Instead of moving to another lesser side backing yourself to get into a team packed full of talent that’s more likely to challenge for trophies shows serious ambition and confidence.
@Christiaan Theron: Heaslip, O’Brien, Leavy, Murphy, Van der Flier, Conan and Ruddock. All Irish internationals
@Oval Digest: You mean like Marty Moore and Ian Madigan now presently lost to the Irish national side.
@Christiaan Theron: did James Ryan not get capped for Ireland before playing for Leinster?
@Christiaan Theron: Haha those support my point! Both stayed and were in the Irish squad, when they left they were found out a bit and left out.
Why would you want to head to Ulster or London Irish if you were an ambitious, talented player from Leinster?
If anything, it would show a lack of ambition to move.
@Christiaan Theron: Ulster should try developing their own players instead of relying on Saffers and other provinces.