Photos: Tony Bellew, BJ Flores - Get Very Tense at Weighin

By Elliot Foster, photos by Laurence Lustig

Tony Bellew and BJ Flores hit the scales ahead of their world title showdown.

The pair weighed in at the Odeon Cinema in Liverpool before they take to the ring at the ECHO Arena, live on Sky Sports.

Champion Bellew (27-2-1, 17 KOs) tipped the scales at 14st 3lbs 4oz ahead of the first defence of his WBC cruiserweight world title against colourful Californian Flores, a former two-time world title challenger, who was forced to strip bare and did everything he can to make the limit of 200lbs, eventually coming in at 14st 3lbs 3oz.

Despite looking a little worse for wear, Flores and his team managed to rile up Bellew –– who has been calm throughout camp –– to the point where trainer Dave Coldwell and the entourage were forced to tell him to calm down and conserve his energy ahead of the fight.

Meanwhile, the mood was somewhat different a little earlier as Luke Campbell and Derry Mathews exchanged pleasantries ahead of their fight.

Those two, who both have Olympic honours –– Mathews winning a gold at the Junior Olympics before Member of the British Empire Campbell was crowned in the bantamweight division at London 2012 –– will vie for the latter’s WBC Silver lightweight title, with a win for either man moving them a step closer to a shot at the world crown in the red-hot 135lb division.

Campbell (14-1, 11 KOs) was 9st 8lbs and 5oz, while Mathews, who lost his last fight, a 12-round decision at the hands of Terry Flanagan in a challenge for the WBO title in March, was three ounces heavier at 9st 8lbs 8oz.

Ryan Burnett and Ryan Farrag were both inside the limit ahead of their clash for the former’s British bantamweight title.

Burnett was 8st 5lbs and 6oz, while Farrag, who succumbed his European title to Karim Guerfi at the same venue four months ago, was three ounces lighter.

Elsewhere, Sean Dodd and Tom Farrell made weight for their respective title fights.

‘Masher’ was 9st 8lbs ahead of his first defence of the WBC International lightweight title against Belgium’s Francesco Patera (9st 7lbs 6oz), while ‘Fazza’, who is looking to go into double figures unbeaten in the pro code, takes on Farid Hakimi, also of Belgium, for the vacant WBA International super-lightweight title.

Farrell was 9st 13lbs and 7oz, while his foe Hakimi tipped the scales three ounces lighter.

Mairis Briedis, the manadatory challenger to Tony Bellew’s WBC cruiserweight title and the man who will fight the Liverpudlian next, should he get past Flores, is also on the bill. The WBC Silver champ faces undefeated pro Simon Vallily over eight rounds.

And a slew of undercard fighters, including super-middleweight Rocky Fielding, who returns over eight rounds, Craig Glover and Ged Carroll, weighed in ahead of tomorrow night’s action.

The Sky Sports coverage of Bellew vs. Flores, for the WBC cruiserweight world title, is split across two channels.

Sky Sports 3 will begin broadcasting some bonus undercard action from 6pm on Saturday evening and that will then be followed by the main airing of the show beginning on Sky Sports 2 from 8pm.