This Saturday evening Tony Bellew makes his first defence of the WBC cruiserweight crown he won back in May when he defeated Ilunga Makubu.
Bellew will be defending his title against the American challenger BJ Flores.
Ahead of the sound of the first bell, Bellew?s trainer Dave Coldwell has spoken about the defence being fraught with danger, calling it a banana skin and further adding,
‘World titles don’t mean anything if you lose your first defence.?
Before adding about the night Bellew clinched the title,
‘He had his glory night at Goodison Park, but he has to put it behind him.
‘He’s got to be focused and not give Flores the opportunity to put him over or get into a scrap, because the minute an underdog believes they can win the fight, all of a sudden you’re up against a much tougher fighter.’
As for 37-year-old Flores, a fighter who has won 32 of his 35 fights but who was defeated by Beibut Shumenov when he challenged for the WBA interim version of the title back in July 2015, it appears the American knows this is his best chance to become a world title and has remarked,
‘My father Frank was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year and we almost lost him.
‘I slept on the floor for this camp and I’ve fought and trained like there’s no tomorrow because you don’t know if there will be a tomorrow. Timing is everything.
‘My father didn’t know if he would get a second chance because after the surgery the doctor told me he had 12 months to live.
‘You have to take every opportunity every day and be thankful for that chance.’
Can Flores upset the proverbial apple-cart?
I don?t think so, Bellew by late stoppage for me.
Bellew v BJ Flores ? Build-Up
