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TONY BELLEW GETS REVENGE WITH SPLIT DECISION WIN OVER NATHAN CLEVERLY; GROVES, DEGALE, AND QUIGG VICTORIOUS

By Scott Smith | November 22, 2014
TONY BELLEW GETS REVENGE WITH SPLIT DECISION WIN OVER NATHAN CLEVERLY; GROVES, DEGALE, AND QUIGG VICTORIOUS

Earlier today at Echo Arena in Liverpool, England, cruiserweight contender Tony Bellew got his revenge against ring rival Nathan Cleverly, winning a split decision victory and evening up their series at one win apiece. Although the fight lacked the knockdowns that both men promised, Bellew proved to have the better game plan to out-box the skilled Cleverly. Relive all the action and the rest of the results in FightHype's round-by-round coverage.

ROUND 1
Both men working behind the jab; nothing significant landed yet. Bellew lands a right hand down the middle and a couple of hooks to the body. Cleverly lands a soft right hook. Round to Bellew.

Bellew 10 Cleverly 9

ROUND 2
Fast start. Bellew lands a combination on the inside as Cleverly returns with a hook. Straight right by Cleverly against the ropes as Bellew returns fire with same punch. Cleverly on his front foot. Bellew lands combination, but gets caught with a counter with no effect. Both men exchange jabs as Bellew lands a right hand down middle. Bellew cut above his right eye! Round to Cleverly.

Bellew 19 Cleverly 19

ROUND 3
Double jab from Cleverly, who looked to land a succession of double jabs in the first minute. Bellew misses with overhand right, but lands right on the ropes. Double jab misses by Cleverly, who then lands a right hand. Good right hand from Bellew. Bellew forces him back against ropes and let's his hands go. Bellew lands a body shot as referee separates them after clash of heads. Even round.

Bellew 29 Cleverly 29

ROUND 4
Overhand right by Bellew. Now he misses a wild swing with the right. Both men eat a jab. Bellew lands to the body and just misses with an overhand right. He forces Cleverly back to the ropes. Cleverly escapes and showboats in the center of the ring before landing a jab on the move. Good counter jab by Cleverly as Bellew forces him back to the ropes, but doesn't land despite pressure. Another close, even round.

Bellew 39 Cleverly 39

ROUND 5
Two jabs to the body by Cleverly. An overhand right by Bellew. Double jab upstairs from Bellew. Overhand right from Bellew in the corner. Body shot from Bellew against the ropes. Both men exchange in center of ring, with Belelw landing a glancing right. Round to Bellew.

Bellew 49 Cleverly 48

ROUND 6
Both men try and box inside with Bellew complaining of a headbutt before landing a right hand. Now both men exchange in the corner. Bellew lands two right hands with Cleverly landing a short hook of his own. Body shot and right hand upstairs from Bellew. Cleverly lands a jab. Cleverly throws Bellew in to corner, but can't land. Bellew lands a jab to end of round. Round to Bellew.

Bellew 59 Cleverly 57

ROUND 7
Both men exchange jabs for first minute. Brilliant right hand by Bellew against the ropes. They tie up on the inside. Cleverly holds Bellews arm and lands two sneaky right hands. Bellew takes the fight to the ropes before the referee separates them. Round to Cleverly.

Bellew 68 Cleverly 67

ROUND 8
Bellew lands a body shot. Cleverly lands a left hand. They exchange jabs as Bellew pushes him back against ropes. Bellew lands an uppercut inside as they tie up. Great overhand right from Cleverly on the inside. Two right hooks from Bellew as they tie up. Round to Bellew.

Bellew 78 Cleverly 76

ROUND 9
Both men exchange right hands against the ropes. Bellew lands twice with a straight right. Bellew is forcing the pace now against the ropes, trying to work upstairs landing three right hands. Cleverly fires back, but is out-punched in the exchange. Round to Bellew.

Bellew 88 Cleverly 85

ROUND 10
Both men fight on the inside as Bellew gets caught with uppercut, but then forces Cleverly back against ropes, landing right hands. Cleverly comes back with a left and an uppercut. Left hand lands from Bellew against the ropes and a good straight right. Good left hand and a right against ropes hurts Cleverly. Scrappy round against ropes, which Bellew got the better of.

Bellew 98 Cleverly 94

ROUND 11
The fight's back on the ropes as Bellew lands a body shot. Double jab from Cleverly. Good right hand from Bellew. Good right hand from Cleverly. Both men look tired. Bellew warned for low blow. Round to Bellew.

Bellew 108 Cleverly 103

ROUND 12
Bellew pins Cleverly against the ropes again for the majority of the round, landing right hands and a couple of lefts. Cleverly fires back again, but is being outworked. Right hand hurts Cleverly against the ropes. Round to Bellew.

Bellew 118 Cleverly 112

Official judges scorecards: 115-114 (Cleverly), 116-112 (Bellew), and 115-113 (Bellew)

GEORGE GROVES TKO7 DENNIS DOUGLIN
It was fast start with both men exchanging right hands. Douglin began having some success with both his left and right hands in the opening rounds as Groves circled the ring trying to set up off his jab. Douglin countered well with wider hooks. Groves was cut on the nose in round 3 as Douglin continued beating him to the punch, firing back any time Groves threw. Groves, however, hurt him with a straight left at the end of round 3. He then started to find his range in the fourth, landing a good hook to the body and a good jab. He followed that up with a nice flurry in the center of the ring. Still, Douglin was doing a good job of nullifying the threat of Groves through the first four rounds.

Douglin tried to work the body a lot, forcing Groves back to the ropes. Groves starting to find his range a bit better in the middle rounds, but Douglin returned fire with some counters, looking to take Groves back to the ropes to work the body. Groves had some success with his hooks through the first 6 rounds before ultimately landing the one that counted, a beautiful right hook that dropped Douglin in the 7th. Douglin made it to his feet, but he was dazed. The fight carried on for 20 seconds more until Douglin got backed up into his own corner and was caught with a right. He looked extremely dazed, having never really recovered from the knockdown, so the referee stepped in to call a halt to the action.

JAMES DEGALE TKO3 MARCO ANTONIO PERIBAN
Periban, who came in 2 pounds overweight at the weigh-in, looked out of shape before the first bell ever sounded. DeGale boxed superbely, moving laterally very well and looking very slick. It was a very controlled, measured approach from DeGale, who had success with some sharp and wide hooks in the early rounds. In the third, DeGale scored a knockdown. A beautiful overhand left wobbled Periban against the ropes. A short right hand and another overhand left followed and Periban was down. The referee waved the fight off as Periban stumbled to his feet in a daze.

ANTHONY JOSHUA TKO1 MICHAEL SPROTT
Anthony Joshua looked calm and patient in his approach before landing a right hand against the ropes that hurt Sprott. Joshua then unleashed a flurry of fast, hard punches, which forced the referee to step in and call a halt to the assault. Sprott was out on his feet and was unsteady even after the stoppage!

SCOTT QUIGG UD12 HIDENORI OTHAKE
From the opening bell, Quigg put his punches together well with a sustained attack to the body. Othake was wobbled hard in round 2 from a right hand and Quigg continued to have success throughout the fight with brilliantly timed right hands. Otakhe suffered a nasty cut in round ten under his right eye. Quigg landed brilliantly with a left hook in the 11th round, staggering Otakhe, but he survived the full 12 rounds.

OTHER RESULTS:

Jamie McDonnell scored a stoppage win over Javier Chacon to retain his WBA Bantamweight championship. Chacon retired in round 10 with a shoulder injury.

Callum smith dominated Nikola Sjekloca, working behind the jab successfully and putting his punches together well, to win a unanimous decision.

Bradley Saunders decisioned Ivans Levicks.

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