British Scene: Tony Bellew vs Ovill McKenzie Preview

Dave Oakes continues his look at Saturday's big Echo Arena "Return of the Magnificent Seven" show.  Check out Dave's previews for the rest of the show: DeGale vs Smith & Cleverly vs Mohammedi - Macklin vs Veron - Brook vs Kotey

A potential show stealer sees Tony Bellew defend his Commonwealth light-heavyweight title against former champion Ovill McKenzie.

Bellew, 14-0 (9 KO’s), by his own admission, was appalling last time out against Bob Ajisafe. He suffered a flash knockdown in the fourth round after walking onto a hard left from Ajisafe and never really found his rhythm thereon after, the fight descending into an untidy affair in which neither combatant could gain control.

McKenzie, 18-9 (7 KO’s), also had trouble with Ajisafe, losing on points after struggling to work out the tall southpaw’s awkward style. McKenzie was in the ‘opponent’ category in the early part of his career, that changed in 2005 when he strung together an eight fight unbeaten streak which culminated in him winning the Commonwealth title – stopping Peter Haymer in the second round.

He lost the title in his first defence, suffering the only knockout defeat of his career against Dean Francis. More recently he won the Prizefighter tournament that was in May last year; he’s only fought once since, a first round annihilation of Billy Boyle.

Bellew is one of the hardest punchers around, all of his stoppage wins coming inside four rounds. Like a lot of big punchers though, his power is both a blessing and a curse. He’s got the ability to end a fight with one punch, the downside being that he goes looking for that punch rather than letting it happen naturally, resulting in him being caught with punches he shouldn’t.

Despite his mediocre knockout ratio, McKenzie is also a respected puncher, all of his knockouts coming inside three rounds. He’s gained a reputation a fighter who spoils the applecart by beating the favoured fighter (hence the moniker ‘The Upsetter’), in reality the Haymer victory and a win over the then unbeaten Courtney Fry are the only fights in which he’s produced an upset.

This fight could end at any moment, Bellew thinks he can take out any fighter and McKenzie has been looking very confident in the build-up. I think both fighters will go looking for each other and sooner or later one will land a fight ending shot. There are question marks about Bellew’s chin but the two times he’s been down in his career have been a result of his own recklessness in wanting to finish the job early, he’s never been badly hurt, although he’s not faced anyone who hits as hard as McKenzie.

This is Bellew’s first proper test; it’ll be interesting how he copes with the pressure of fighting a live opponent in front of thousands of his hometown fans. The only other time he’s fought on a big Liverpool card is when he blew away no-hoper Atoli Moore to win the title. If he can keep his head and box with a bit more control than he normally does, I think Bellew will get the job done inside six rounds.

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