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When looking at the career of O’Neil Bell, one might see a champion who is flawed but resolved. Throughout his share of fights Bell has been tagged often, dropped to the canvas, and found himself in trouble but he has never given up and his heart and perseverance have carried the day for him. Tonight that same formula would lead Bell to the undisputed Cruiserweight Championship as he upset heavy-handed Frenchman Jean-Marc Mormeck by way of 10th round TKO in a memorable fight.
Coming in, many were tabbing Mormeck the heavy favorite due to his overall physical strength and aggressive nature. Early on those predictions seemed spot on as the Frenchman appeared to be walking through Bell’s shots and grinding him down with harder punches of his own. It was a hard, physical fight and Mormeck’s bodywork seemed to be doing damage while he often had the crowd roaring with his assaults. Bell’s chin was getting checked but he dug down, hung tough, and returned fire of his own. It made for excellent two-way action as Bell controlled things on the outside while Mormeck made his mark up close.
In the 5th Jean-Marc was caught with a low blow and took a minute to recover. The round was very close as Mormeck’s downstairs blows were matched by right hands from Bell. I had Mormeck up by a point through six rounds, but it was then that we got to see the best of O’Neil Bell as he started to take control.
The seventh round was huge for Bell as he fired away at a seemingly tired Mormeck the entire round. Clean rights and powerful uppercuts were doing the damage as Mormeck sunk into the ropes and covered up. Mormeck was definitely stunned as Bell unloaded everything in his arsenal, doing enough to warrant a 10-8 round on my card.
Rounds eight and nine were more competitive but Mormeck appeared to be running out of gas and his punches lacked the sting they had early on. The tenth was a wild affair as Bell pinned Mormeck into a corner and again fired away. Bell was bulldozing the bull and dropped his man to the canvas. Both hurt and tired, Mormeck seemed out of it and referee Wayne Kelly waived the contest off.
With the win Bell moves to 26-1-1 with 24 knockouts and adds both the WBA and WBC belts to his resume. Mormeck falls to 31-3 (21) but gave a good enough account of himself and he should still be seeing more action in the big show due to his willingness to meet the best and his exciting style.
Afterwards Bell said he was ready for an intense fight, stating ‘I was more conditioned. It’s a battle of attrition and he folded. He’s supposed to be a bull but I was backing him up on the ropes.’
Bell has high hopes for the rest of his career and the win adds some more luster to the Cruiserweight class. Bell says he’s ready to do whatever it takes, be it defending his belts or moving up to Heavyweight. Summing it up best, O’Neil himself said ‘I love to fight. I love this game.’
After talking with Bell for a while last week I found him to be extremely down to earth, humble, and respectful in many ways in his approach towards his championship dreams. He’s a fine champion for the sport to have and once again he won by doing what he does best, which is overcoming adversity.
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© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing 1998-2006
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By Chris Robinson (January 8, 2006)
