Ovill Mckenzie has revealed exactly what went through his head when he dropped Tony Bellew with a thunderous right hand.
On December 11, 2010, ‘The Upsetter’ headed into enemy territory at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK, to go toe-to-toe with his arch-rival.
While Bellew was dropped heavily by Oleksandr Usyk later in his career, at the time, nobody had done what McKenzie was about to do to him.
Inside the very first round, the Jamaican-born brawler sent the future WBC cruiserweight world champion, spiralling toward the canvas, before doing the same thing in the second segment with another colossal shot.
WOW: Tony Bellew names boxing legend as the biggest puncher of all time
Ovill McKenzie says Tony Bellew will never forget being punched by him
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Ovill McKenzie was born to fight, with the warrior, who used to sell juice and sleep in the market, eventually discovering boxing, and realizing he had the ability to make a serious splash in the sport.
His glistening career features victories over Enzo Maccarinelli and Matty Askin, as well as a Prizefighter win, picking up the British and Commonwealth titles, and in the eyes of the fans, beating Victor Emilio Ramirez, for the IBF world title in Argentina.
However, one of his most memorable moments, was when he put Tony Bellew on the canvas for the second time, with an absolute belter of a punch.
When the Scouser eventually rose to his feet, he did so in such a composed manner, his opponent didn’t know what to think, before later realizing the truth upon watching the fight back.
In an exclusive interview with Bloody Knockout, McKenzie exclaimed: “He’ll be talking about that shot all his life. The shot lifted him off his feet. It lifted him up sideways with his legs off the floor, and he went down head first and hit his head on the canvas and woke up.
“At the time when it happened, I never expected him to get up and be solid on his feet, and not rocking and stumbling. When I saw him on his feet, I’m not going to lie, I s— myself. Straight away in my head, I’m thinking, ‘This guy is on drugs’. I didn’t know what to think. If he got up and was stumbling all over the place, I would’ve felt [ok].
“I never realized what happened, that he’d hit his head. It’s when I go home and watched it afterwards that I saw the guy hit his head on the canvas, and that’s what woke him up.
“On the night, I s— myself. I started going on the backfoot. He caught me in the eighth round. If the referee had let the fight carry on, I would’ve switched back on and think, ‘I need to take him out’. If somebody hits me, I want to hit them back. If somebody put me down on the floor, I want to put them down straight away. If the referee had let the fight carry on, I’d have taken him out 100%.”
‘I dropped him’… Ovill McKenzie reveals crazy memories of sparring Artur Beterbiev
Bellew isn’t the only icon Mckenzie has sent flying toward the floor, with the British-Jamaican once detonating his explosive power on the chin of Artur Beterbiev.
During a trip to Canada, the pair engaged in several rounds of sparring, in which two dynamite punchers went toe-to-toe in action-packed sessions.
Now, McKenzie has opened up about dropping Beterbiev.