LIVERPOOL -- It was a fight with some ferocity, accusations with a bit of anger and claims with a lot of comedy in Liverpool on Saturday night when Tony Bellew retained his WBC cruiserweight title.The fight with BJ Flores was over before it had started in many ways and the American, who had struggled to make the weight, was a reluctant player in the latest Bellew drama. Flores was meant to be tough and had talked like a beast all week, but looked drained when he stepped on the scales the day before the first bell.Bellew disdainfully bished and bashed his way to a third round win, sending Flores down four times in total before the merciful end and that was when the circus started. Flores was hastily forgotten, which is convenient because his abject performance would have been censored by the British Boxing Board of Control in a different epoch.Flores is also a close personal friend of David Haye, the former world heavyweight champion and sworn enemy of Bellew, and long before the first bell promoter Eddie Hearn had tweeted that it would go off at ringside.Well, shock horror, it did.When it was officially over, Bellew tried to locate Haye at ringside. Hes behind you, he was told. Bellew quickly ducked through the ropes. The security was plentiful, the space for the off cleared and the pair started shouting and gesturing from behind the outstretched palms of the paid help. Bellew was persuaded to get back in the ring and then he was given a microphone, which was open to the crowd at the Echo Arena.If it had been serious and nasty the Board would have surely intervened at this point, but it was not, it was a terrific circus act.I just smashed your playmate, your nightclub buddy, Bellew hollered, leaving pauses for oohs and arghs. I will smash you the same way. You are getting smashed. The crowd booed and jeered and cheered.Haye remained mostly silent, a bemused look on his face, as Bellew launched the tirade, which was equal parts sales and comedy, but there was just enough spite to keep it plausible. An angry man, remember, would have sworn and not joked; the spat was beautifully stage-managed, with members of the Board and the broadcasters boxing team standing or sitting and grinning. It was all clean, good fun -- the modern boxing way.Hes the same dimensions as me, Bellew told his audience. Im a bit fatter and hes a bit better looking. Hes a cruiserweight, he went to heavyweight because he loves money. Im the biggest payday he can get right now. Haye continued smiling.The pantomime at the end helped disguise the dreadful performance by Flores, a fighter with a reputation for being hard. It looked like Flores was in search of a safe place to land from the first bell and that was a surprise. I thought he would survive the 12 rounds.Bellew had absolutely no respect for the American and that meant he was caught with silly punches as he connected with his own. In round two Flores toppled over three times, once as he was complaining, and in the third a left hook from Bellew, which everybody in Liverpool saw, dropped Flores. The fight was over, the show was about to start.Bellew is what Belllew is, said Haye. He can talk all he likes, but I would win easily. I could take him out with just one punch. It would be a knock out. I want him to just keep talking. Haye also pointed out that Bellews defence was non-existent against Flores.Haye was involved in a real post-fight scrap in Munich in 2012 when his banter with Dereck Chisora turned predictably violent. On that occasion one man ended up with a broken jaw, another had stitches in a head wound and people were fined and suspended by the Board.The sales pitch has started for a fight that would put a minimum of 40,000 bums on seats early next summer. However, Haye could also find himself in possession of a lucky ticket for the heavyweight championship lottery during the next few weeks and that might scupper a fight with Bellew. Isaiah Thomas Jersey . Pettersen, winner of last years Evian Championships, had nine birdies and three bogeys, holding off a series of challengers led by Marion Ricordeau of France. The second-ranked Norwegian made her season debut after missing the LPGA Tours opening event last month in the Bahamas because of a shoulder injury. Antoine Walker Jersey . 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NASSAU, Bahamas -- If we had to choose the precise moment Thursday when Tiger Woods really started resembling the Tiger of the good ol days, it wouldnt be the opening drive that found the left rough between two bunkers. It wouldnt be the brilliant chip on the par-5 third that led to his first birdie in 466 days. It wouldnt even be his third birdie of the day, on the seventh hole, the product of a laser-beam approach shot and no-doubt-about-it putt that barely elicited a grin.No, the moment he truly started evoking memories of the guy whos won 14 major championships occurred on the next tee, the par-3 eighth, when his impact through the ball was immediately followed by one of his first audible exhortations during the round.One yard! he shouted, a command he often gave when he was hitting his best shots.The ball listened, nestling just a few feet from the hole en route to a fourth birdie and a share of the lead.Thats when some combination of Woods rustiness and the omnipotent golf gods forced him to collectively pump the brakes during his return engagement to competitive golf.You could insist he appeared very much like a different Tiger of old when he failed to get a delicate chip onto the surface from just left of the ninth green. And when he played army golf on the 11th, after a pulled tee shot left and a pushed second shot right led to a swipe at the turf with his club and an unplayable lie penalty stroke. And again when he hooked his drive on the final hole into the adjacent water hazard, then slammed the driver into the ground before carding his second double-bogey in three holes.By the time hed finished, Woods had turned a 4 under start and share of the lead into a 1-over 73 that left him in 17th place in the 18-man Hero World Challenge field.I just made some really silly mistakes, mistakes I dont normally make, Woods said, before reminding himself as much as anyone else, but I havent played in a while.This was a textbook round for someone who hadnt played in a while: Make a few nervy pars just to ease away the tension; ride the wave of adrenaline up the leaderboard; get overtaken by fatigue down the stretch.If we needed further proof, though, of WWoods return to familiarity, it came after the round, when he wouldnt acquiesce to that last observation.dddddddddddd.He was asked a reasonable question about whether hed run out of gas before making those two doubles.I wouldnt say that, he offered. I just made some mistakes.He was asked a similar question about whether he incurred issues with stamina and again wouldnt relent.No, no, not that, he argued. I just made a couple of mistakes out there.This was classic Tiger, who for years has made a practice of debunking even the simplest opinions of his game. Consider it evidence that the new normal for him might still be pretty normal.Score and result notwithstanding, that should be a main takeaway from Thursdays round. He wasnt doubled over with back pain, nor was he chunking uncomplicated chip shots. The truth is, if you didnt know he was a 14-time major champion and didnt know he was returning from a lengthy layoff, he appeared very much like any other professional golfer playing any round of golf.How quickly I fell into the competitive mode and I felt the feel of the round, Woods said when asked what he was most pleased about. By the time I hit my tee shot on the second hole, I had already gotten into the flow of the round. Thats something that for me, when Ive taken layoffs and taken breaks, its how quickly can I find the feel of the round. Its good to be able to play [for the first time] in, what, 15, 16 months and get it on the second hole.The other takeaway is that this round should provide cautious optimism moving forward. Critical analysis aside, his return to competitive golf should be viewed through a positive prism.Woods often talks about the process. Well, hes only going to get stronger and more comfortable moving forward. This should be seen as a terrific first step in that process.Earlier this week, as a few reporters chatted up Woods on the range here at Albany Golf Club, he struck shot after shot, then finally turned to them and quipped, Im not dead yet.On Thursday, the rest of the world got to see that, too. ' ' '