TONY BELLEW insisted he is the best light-heavyweight in Britain after completely blowing away the toughest test of his career so far. ‘The Bomber’ picked up his eighth stoppage victory in 11 wins with a sensational opening round destruction of Czech contender Jindrich Velecky, before running around the ECHO Arena ring proclaiming, “I am the man” to wild applause. Velecky had been brought in to give Bellew rounds, to test the Wavertree knockout king at the next level. After all, with 15 knockouts in 16 wins of his own, the big puncher was coming to win. Especially as he arrived still seething from suffering a 10-round points defeat in his last fight in May, only the sixth of his nine-year career. And that was on the road against German Robert Stieglitz, who in August won the WBO world title via a late TKO. But Bellew showed no respect on Friday and completely dismantled the 35-year-old former world title contender inside 90 seconds. A neat, choppy left hook after just 30 seconds left Velecky’s legs doing a little dance up against the ropes and Bellew showed no mercy, following up with an uppercut and straight right which dropped the visitor hard. Referee Phil Edwards sent Bellew to a neutral corner from where his corner team were screaming at him to relax and take his time. But as the official waved Bellew back in, Velecky looked to his corner and the Scouse wrecking machine took no prisoners, practically sprinting across the ring to unload right and lefts with venom forcing Edwards to jump in and save Velecky from the onslaught. Speaking afterwards Bellew had a message for the rest of the division, especially current number one Nathan Cleverly. “A genuine world champion never did to that man what I did to him tonight,” he sang. “I am just a smashing machine and I am just going to get stronger the more fights I have. “I’m the best light-heavyweight in the country now and I just want the opportunity to prove it. “This was a dangerous opponent but I destroyed him, like I will the rest. “When I get the chance I will rip that belt from Cleverly’s hands. I’ll expose his flaws when we eventually get to fight no doubt. He won’t push me back that’s for sure.” | 
Article
