While many people in boxing have favoured Nathan Cleverly for his WBO light-heavyweight title defence against Tony ‘Bomber’ Bellew, there is one factor that Bellew believes is firmly in his favour, the venue which is the Echo Arena in Bellew’s home city of Liverpool.

Once the bell sounds to begin the bout, nobody outside the ring can get in it and it’s solely down to the boxers to determine the destiny of the fight. But Bellew believes the crowd will be in his favour and it will play its part.

“I think it’s a big factor because if ten thousand Scousers were looking for you, how would you feel? Ten thousand Scousers are going to be baying for his blood on Saturday night on October 15^th and I’m going to be the one to get it. It is what it is and he’s coming to my town and he’s going to get a real shock because if he thinks he’s seen crowds and he thinks he’s seen intimidating atmospheres; it ain’t nothing to what he’s going to see when he comes to Liverpool.”

With no suitable venue in Cleverly’s capital city of Cardiff, the Welshman decided to tackle Bellew in his hometown. However, Bellew criticised Cleverly’s fan base in his beliefs on why Liverpool was chosen as the venue.

Cleverly became British and Commonwealth champion two years ago, since that ‘Bomber’ has picked up the titles and the current domestic champion boldly stated, “I draw fans, not him. I’ve got a following that will fill a ten thousand seater arena, not him. That’s why it’s coming to Liverpool and not Cardiff.”

“I’m happy it’s coming to Liverpool but there’s a reason it’s coming to Liverpool, because I have a following that he doesn’t. I have ten thousand people that relate to me, I’ve got a city where I’m from that can relate to me and that can understand how I do what I do and where I’m doing it from and why I do what I do. That’s because I’m a product of my environment, I’m a product that comes from Liverpool and that’s proud to be a Scouser.”  

For fight fans who’ve followed the build up to October 15^th, they will have noticed an undeniably dislike between Cleverly and Bellew and it’s a situation Bellew is open and honest about.

“He doesn’t like me personally. He looks at me and I send him nuts, I can tell by the look in his eyes that he’d love to belt me there and then. He thinks twice about doing it because if I crack him he’s going to sleep and I’m going to prove that on October 15^th.”

Although Cleverly has operated at a far superior level to the opponents that Bellew has faced so far in his 16 fights, three of which have put Bellew on the canvas, the Scouser believes that Cleverly’s attributes aren’t balanced and are beatable.

“He’s very good at what he does, he’s got a fantastic variety of punch, he’s got fast hands and he’s good on the front foot. His minuses are that he’s got zero defence, he’s got zero head movement, his footwork is p**s poor. So his negatives out-weigh his positives for me but that’s just my opinion and my opinion doesn’t really matter much to him or his team. Come October 15^th we’ll see, we’ll see who can implement the best game plan and who can structure themselves to the best of their ability.”

In the last season there were high profile cases of boxers being unable to fulfil their boastful promises but Bellew is confident he can walk the walk as well as talk it and the fight will deliver its pre-fight hype.

“He’s telling me that he’s going to come in the ring and fight and trade with me and throw it all out in one go, straight away. I know he’s not going to do that, but if he does do that then you’re going to get the best fight you’ve ever seen for as long as it lasts.” said Bellew.

Come October 15^th Bellew will aim to become Liverpool’s first world champion since super-featherweight Paul Hodkinson in 1991 and he realises how big an achievement beating Cleverly will be.

He analysed, “This fight is going to be drummed up and the publicity it’s going to gather will be massive so the winner’s going to come out with a serious big following and a seriously big achievement and a fantastic belief that they can go on and do bigger and better things.”  

Whether a person agrees with Bellew’s words or not, what’s undeniable about him is that he’s ready to put it all on the line to back those words up, evident in the conviction in his voice as he says, “I’m really happy that it’s happening. I’ve worked my whole life towards this and come October 15^th I’m just going to go in there and do what I’ve been doing most of my career. Win.”