TMT’S BELLOWS CONTINUING HIS OPPORTUNITIES FRIDAY NIGHT IN VEGAS
April 24, 2024
Simon Ruvalcaba
If you live in Las Vegas or will be visiting Las Vegas Friday? One option you have is catching Friday afternoon/evening fights at Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall? As you look into the ring at the two fighters in there at any given time, realize that everyone has a story of how they ended up on that stage? When Lanell Bellows steps into that ring Friday night against Naim Terbunja of Sweden by way of Kosovo it will be yet another opportunity blessed upon him by the fortune of having impressed the greatest boxer of this era. No matter how talented or blessed one is in their chosen craft, there does need to be a little bit of luck to be noticed for big opportunities. In 2012 as Floyd Mayweather Jr was preparing to face Miguel Cotto, one of the sparring partners of that camp was light heavyweight Lanell Bellows. The Kansas City, Missouri born and Southern California bred fighter impressed Mayweather enough that Floyd wanted to give Lanell the opporutnity for success. One year later Bellows was performing on the undercard of Floyd’s fight versus Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero. Lanell “KO” Bellows is first and foremost a family man. A proud father of 3, he lives a normal life while his pugilistic career is something that seperates him from the average Joe.
Bellows turned pro in 2012 and has a record of 17-2-1 (10). A late comer to the sport of boxing, Lanell didn’t start until he was 22 years old and had a 32 bout amatuer career. He was 2 and 0 when he got to spar Floyd and had a previous comittment for his 3rd pro fight that he honored before signing with Mayweather Promotions. His 2 losses have been close decision losses, one by majority decision, the 2nd via split decision. In a recent interview with Puchline, when asked if he feels like an undefeated fighter with the closeness of his defeats Bellows humbly replied, “No, I don’t feel like if I’m undefeated because the losses are on my record. It is just more motivation for me to go for the knockout, but as long as my hands are raised at the end is what I’ll be looking for!” In Terbunja, Bellows faces a fighter that has never lost 2 fights in a row and is coming off a defeat last November which brought his record to 10-2 (1).
Bellows is giving his career 2 more years to become a World Champion or at least to be on the doorstep as a sign that he still has what it takes. No matter what the outcome is Friday, when you see the man, like any fighter in the ring, there is a story. The Lanell Bellows story is filled with trainers like Rafael Ramos, his first coach, that made him believe that he could have a future in boxing and also of course the sparring encounters with Mayweather in wich Floyd was impressed with Bellows’s heart. Being taken under the wing of people in the sport that sense something in him is a testament that boxing, although a seeemingly lonely sport, is ultimately a team game from the aspect of the kind of people that need to be involved to help bring great opportunity. Friday night, Lanell will have yet another shot at proving right, himself and those that believed in him through his career. The Mayweather Promotions card begins at 3:30 P.M. and tickets are still available as low as $25.
About the Editor
Army Veteran and former Professional Boxer Simon Ruvalcaba started boxing at the age of ten and Had a 71 fight amateur career which featured a 139 lbs. 1998 8th U.S. Army Boxing Championship out of Camp Casey, Korea and a spot on the prestigious Army Boxing Team at Fort Hood, TX. After a journeyman pro career of 18 fights, which included sparring sessions with many champions and contenders including Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell “Sweat Pea” Whitaker, Simon started writing and has contributed to many publications and websites including fighthype.com, pound4pound.com, Tahoe Daily Tribune (South Lake Tahoe, CA), Nevada Appeal (Carson City, NV). He has also been the Boxing Instructor for Ken Shamrock and The Lions Den and was MMA and Bareknuckle star Paige VanZant’s first boxing coach!
Born and Raised in South Lake Tahoe, California he now resides in Sun Valley, Nevada and spends as much time as possible with his Sons Gabriel and Oscar! Beyond boxing, Simon is an all around sports fanatic and is passionate about the teams that he roots for. Simon also works as a Sportsbook Supervisor for Caesars Sportsbook in Lake Tahoe.
