Tony Bellew: If The Price Is Right, I Will Fight Again In Boxing

Tony Bellew sat down with Hard Rock Bet to discuss the current heavyweight landscape, naming Daniel Dubois as the best of the current world champions before giving his verdict on a potential Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua showdown.

The former world champion also discussed the possibility of Conor McGregor vs Conor Benn, the ongoing feud between Eddie Hearn and Dana White, and what it would take to tempt him into making a sensational return to the boxing ring.

Bellew, who starred in Creed, also opened up about his experience working alongside Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone, as well as his time on reality TV show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!.

Working with Sylvester Stallone

What was it like to star in Creed?

Tony: That came about because of Ryan Coogler. I’m very grateful to Ryan and I love him. Ryan’s a family friend.

Ryan Coogler pushed for me to get that role, Working with Sylvester Stallone was brilliant. He’s a great person, a great guy, and has a lot of admiration for boxers, wrestlers and people involved in combat sports.

It was just an unbelievable experience working with them and living amongst them. Living in Philadelphia for three months was a crazy, crazy experience, but one that I’ll never, ever forget.

Running up the steps was the first thing I did when I got there. We were in South Philadelphia as well.

Sylvester gave me advice. He’s a really nice guy and always had time for me. He’s the busiest man I’ve ever known. You know, this is a guy who does interviews and meetings in 15-minute slots.

So you get 15 minutes, but I’ve sat with him in the trailers for hours. One day, I was in the trailer for 45 minutes to an hour, and watched him do four interviews in that hour.

It was just nuts having that experience. Like I said, he’s so busy, but he’s so good at what he does. It was amazing to be around him. Some of the stories he shared with me were unbelievable, so they’ll stay with me forever.

Possible Boxing Comeback

Tony, since retiring, what’s life been like for you in general?

Tony: Of course I miss it. I miss it every single day. No, I don’t miss punching people in the face, but I miss getting paid for it.

But you’ve just got to move on with life, and you’ve just got to understand that life has its stages. And I suppose I’m now at a stage where I’ve ticked all my boxes and achieved my goals and dreams.

I went out on a high against the best. I went out against the best fighter of my whole career. I just feel the reason I retired is because I got beaten by the best, and if I can’t beat the best, I don’t see the point in carrying on.

I look back on my time in boxing very fondly. I’m very grateful. I’m still involved with the ABC, and I try to give as much time back to them as I can. That’s all I really care about now, trying to give back and help other people.

I’m very fortunate to be in the position I’m in. I can choose when I want to work. I’d work seven days a week if I wanted to. For some crazy reason, I’m quite in demand at the minute. I don’t really know why that is, but I’m working when I see fit, and I’m busy, so I’m happy.

Are you retired from boxing for good – you previously wanted to fight for the bridgerweight title?

Tony: That was a few years ago. I mean, I’m not searching to have a fight with anyone. I’m not looking to go back into camp. I’m not looking to have a fight with anyone.

My goals and ambitions have always been to become a world champion. I mean, in my heart of hearts, I genuinely believe I could have done that at light heavyweight. I thought I would, like everyone else, but I didn’t get it on the night. That’s just the way it goes.

You have to accept that and move on. But the WBC cruiserweight title was always a dream and a goal. That was the one that I knew I had to get.

I had my sights set on something, and I fulfilled my lifelong dreams. Being a two-weight world champion would have been nice. The bridgerweight belt would have been the perfect weight division for me, but ultimately, that ship has sailed, I feel.

And, you know, anything that comes now, I’m not going to be stupid. I won’t even say to you here and now that I’m never going to fight again, because that would be stupid. I could be made out to be a liar then.

If you’re asking me, “Do you ever want to fight again?” the absolute answer is no. No, I don’t want to fight again.

But I’m also not stupid. If somebody comes to me offering me a ton of money, guess what I’m going to do? I’m going to go back, put the gloves on and beat someone up. So that’s the way it goes.

Daniel Dubois best of the rest

Who is the best of the rest of the heavyweight division after Oleksandr Usyk?

Tony: Usyk is the lineal champion but who is the best after Oleksandr Usyk? That’s a good question. I probably have to say Daniel Dubois based on recent performances. Do I think he is the future of the heavyweight division? No, I think that is Moses Itauma.

Right now, who is the best and most efficient heavyweight in the world? I like Agit Kabayel and massively rate him but I’m not sure he can keep Daniel Dubois off and if he can’t, then he is in trouble.

There are two ways of beating Daniel Dubois. Make him tired and beat him up like Joe Joyce did or you have to be clever enough to make him miss and make him pay like Oleksandr Usyk did. It’s very hard to be successful in that though. That’s the blueprint to beat him and can Kabayel do that? I’m not so sure. I wouldn’t put my house on it.

Daniel Dubois is very fit and doesn’t get tired but what he does get is frustrated. He gets mentally exhausted when he can’t figure things out. There will be another one like Oleksandr Usyk who can give him those problems and it will be Moses Itauma.

I don’t want to knock the lad, people have an agenda that I don’t like him, I do, I think he is brilliant and is an outstanding champion. Every time I write him off, he prevails and comes through it. He has done what he has done and it can’t be changed.

Tyson Fury v Anthony Joshua will deliver huge Netflix audience

How much of a psychological factor do you think Anthony Joshua has with Ben Davison, and do you think that’s a big advantage for AJ going into the fight?

Tony: Not really. Tyson is a completely different fighter to the one he was when he was with Ben. That’s just the bottom line. I don’t think it really plays a part.

Ben and Tyson have got to know each other over the years, as have Ben and Anthony Joshua, so there is clearly that familiarity. But ultimately, it comes down to the two fighters getting in the ring on the night. And, you know, this could come down to who lands the big shot first.

It really could, because both have seen better days. But ultimately, we all still want to see it, and we’ve got to see it. It’s still a massive fight. I don’t care what anybody says.

I’m a little bit fed up with talking about it, and I think everybody else is a little bit fed up too, but we’re all still talking about it. So until it actually happens on December 11th, you know, we’re going to keep chatting.

Do you think it’ll break the records on Netflix for the audience in the UK?

Tony: I think it gets 20 million, but it’s not getting more than 80 million. There aren’t enough people in America who care about it.

So the fact that we’re putting the fight on at a time to appeal to the Americans… They don’t care. I’ve been told that we all know they don’t care.

So, I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know.

Eddie and Dana may work together in the future

What have you made of Eddie vs Dana?

Tony: They’re businessmen, and it makes money. It’s as simple as that. The two of them are businessmen.

They’ll do whatever makes the most business sense. So, do I think they’re worth sitting down together again? I’m not sure. If a fight is going to make an awful lot of money, it’ll get brought up.

I mean, if Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr fight for a second time, then they’ll work together. It’s quite simple. That’s the way it is.

They’ll do whatever is right for the fighters. But not so much both of them; they’ll do what’s right for their own interests. Eddie will do what’s right for his fighters, and Dana will do what makes him the most money.

Because, to compare the two and say who cares about fighters and who doesn’t care about fighters, I think it’s quite clear. That’s a one-way road, in my opinion. You’ve seen how fighters are going on about the way they’re paid, and you’ve seen what’s happening.

And make no mistake, the UFC is one of the biggest marketing franchises in the world, and Dana White built that from the ground up. No one can ever take that away from him. He’s an amazing promoter in the mixed martial arts world.

But what he’s done in the mixed martial arts world can never work in the boxing world, and he’s finding that out now.

You can’t put your franchise’s face before the fighters. You can’t put your sponsors’ faces before the fighters. You can’t put the owners, directors and board members before the fighters.

That’s been going on in the UFC from the start, and that’s why it’s so popular and so powerful, and that’s why they’ve made so much money.

Conor McGregor would destroy Conor Benn in MMA

Conor Benn came out and they said he’d be open to a fight with Conor McGregor in boxing. What do you make of this?

Tony: First of all, everybody will care about it. And then secondly, good on them if it happens, fair play. I don’t give Conor McGregor much of a chance in boxing and I give Conor Benn absolutely zero no chance in a cage with Conor McGregor. So whichever discipline it goes to, it’s not going to last very long, put it that way.

They are two exceptional fighters in their own disciplines. Well, Conor’s a good fighter, but Conor McGregor is an exceptional fighter in the form of mixed martial arts. But I understand why it could happen. I think the only thing that could be more beneficial than that fighter is the trilogy between Benn and Chris Eubank Jr.

I actually think if Conor Benn was to get in the boxing ring with Conor McGregor, I’m not sure how it would go down. I’m not sure how well it will be received because Conor is on a bit of a losing streak, he’s seen better days, as has now with Conor Benn, it’s a very hard one to get up for that, but as soon as Conor arrives, the torch has been lit.

As soon as Conor McGregor opens his mouth, as soon as Conor McGregor shows up, it’s a different game, mate. It’s a different strategy. He’s that big.

He’s huge, he’s so popular. He says polarising things; he says controversial things, and he’s a big, big deal. So they don’t let anybody try and make Conor McGregor’s not a big deal.

He’s still absolutely huge. The minute he comes back to the UFC, the UFC is the biggest franchise in the world when he’s in it. The fact that he’s not in it, is damaging it massively, in my opinion.

Andy Burnham is a ‘proper Blue’

Andy Burnham attends the Everton games, have you met him and what is he like?

Tony: I’ve seen Andy at the games over the years and I’ve spoken to him a few times as well, he’s a good guy. He’s a proper Blue and a good fella, he gets it. I’m not going to confess that I know him well but I have had a few conversations with him before and said hello, shook his hand a couple of times but I haven’t seen him since he became Prime Minister.

I have been in and around him for a couple of games and he was with the Canadian leader I believe. Andy is a good guy.

Is he doing a good job as PM?

Tony: I haven’t got a clue about politics so I have no idea what he is really doing. I’m from the streets of the Wavertree in Liverpool. What I know about politics, you could write on the back of the first class stamp and still have room for the Lord’s prayer.

On meeting Jose Mourinho and what he said

Jose Mourinho possesses the trash talk of a fighter, what do you make of him?

Tony: You might not see the likes of Jose Mourinho again because he’s such a leader and so passionate about what he does.

Listen, amongst the giants, he’s the little man amongst the giants, but he was amazing. What he did at Porto was phenomenal.

I mean, at a time when money had just taken over the world and taken over football, Porto were successful. Then, he did it again at Inter Milan. Once again, it wasn’t one of the biggest clubs in the world, and it wasn’t the biggest league in the world by a mile.

You’ve probably got two leagues above the Italian league when he went to Milan: the English and Spanish leagues. I’d say that, at the time, the Italian league was probably on a par with the German league.

So what José has been able to achieve in football is nothing short of remarkable. What a guy, what a man.

How did you meet him?

Tony: I was at a boxing event and he called me over to him. I didn’t know he was talking to me. I didn’t think I was on his radar. He was calling me over, and I was looking behind me, thinking, “Who the bloody hell is he calling over here?”

Then he kept calling, “You, come here, here.” So I went over. He was sitting with [unclear], and he didn’t really want to be seen. He’d come over, and when I said, “You want me?” he went, “Yeah, you.”

I went straight over to him. I just told him I was a fan, and he said to me – he asked me a question – “Just come close to me and whisper to me.” And he said, “Please tell me you’ve done okay with your money.”

And I said, “Yeah. I’ve looked after things. I’ve invested in stuff, my kids are going to be safe, and our family’s secure.” And he kissed me on the cheek and said, “I’m so happy for you.” He said, “Because you are a proper man.”

He just said, “You are proper. For many of you, you won’t know I was there, but I’m sitting here, and I’m a big fan of yours.”

I just couldn’t believe it. I felt like crying. I couldn’t believe Jose knew who I was, because I’m one of the biggest football fans in the world. I’ve just loved and adored him ever since then.

So, yeah, it’s mad. I mean, it’s crazy. My best mate took me down to that Porto game with Alex Bruce and we were at that game [when Porto beat Man United]. I never knew who he was then. That was the first time I’d ever seen him.

I know, it’s crazy when I think back. Life just goes full circle, and before you know it, I think it was 2002 or 2003, and now, he’s calling me over to talk to me. I can’t even believe he knows who I am.

At Madrid, I mean, it must be so hard for someone like him because he’s got such an ego himself, but to be able to rein that in with the egos he’s now got around him… as a football manager now, you can’t be in control of everything, whereas he’s been so used to being in control of everything that goes in and out of a football club.

What he’s done at Chelsea was phenomenal, but he run that football club from top to bottom. He’s gone to a place like Real Madrid, and the egos standing in that dressing room are huge. He’s got to be basically a psychiatrist, an ego masseuse, a father, a friend, a villain to some of them.

How do you manage those five different things at once? And that’s what he’s having to do. How are you keeping Mbappé happy? How are you keeping Bellingham on side? All of these superstar players. How are you doing it?

Fair play to him. He’s absolutely brilliant. I’ll always and forever be a huge fan.

Bruno Fernandes was wrong to criticise Michael Carrick

What’s your thoughts on Bruno Fernandes criticising Michael Carrick at Man Utd?

Tony: I mean, I don’t really know Bruno Fernandes and I’ve never met him, so I think he’s a fantastic footballer, but I didn’t like him throwing the manager under the bus because that’s the same manager who’d come in last season when you were at your lowest point and got you into the Champions League and you’ thrown under the bus because you took you off 10 minutes before you should have been took off.

I don’t even know when he took him off, but I know he was watching the game and he was shaking his head walking down the tunnel. That’s what I did see. So I don’t want to kick him out when he’s down but there’s no need to criticize the manager.

I’ve been around football long enough and I’ve known enough football and all that, that’s not the way to act. You know, throwing the manager under the bus’s not nice. It’s really not nice and you’ve got to understand that if he’s the captain of the club in the face and that dressing room and he’s the voice coming out of that dressing room, which he is the captain of.

Once he talks about the manager like that, it’s pretty hard to come back for him being totally honest. You fear for Michael Carrick. I just believe in the proper way of football, a man should go to a football club and everybody besides the owners comes after the manager because the manager will live and die by his decisions, but these days now managers can’t live and die by anything.

Experience on reality TV

You and Sam Thompson were the stars of “I’m a Celebrity”. Do you still keep in touch with Sam?

Tony: He was the star of the show, mate, not me. I’m just me. I’m just a punchy boxer who’s just that. I don’t watch myself back. Sam was definitely the star of the show. I just go home and be myself. I don’t pretend to be anything I’m not.

What you see on that show is just me. So that’s it. That’s all there is to it. I get on with Sam. I haven’t really spoken to him much recently, but that’s just life. I’ve got four kids, I’ve got a wife, I’ve got a father, my best mates, and I’ve got my health as well. So I’m just busy. I don’t get as much time to speak to people as I’d like to, but I’ve got that much going on. The most important thing is that I’m able to be around the children. I’m able to watch them grow.

I came from a single parent home as a kid and your dad leaves you at 10 years of age, it’s not easy and you are basically raised by friends who are my brothers. We have 10 friends who we grew up with from school and we are all the same. I suppose they are my sanity, they’re my brothers who aren’t brothers, if that makes sense.

I’ve got two older brothers and one younger brother, and I don’t see them as much as I see my friends. I don’t even see my friends that much, but I speak to them every single day. Every single day I’ll speak with friends, and that’s my kind of sanity.

That’s what keeps me sane, that’s what keeps me in check, that’s what keeps everything in place, as well as my wife, that is. You just try and stay on the straight and narrow and stay good. That’s all you can do. With the reality TV shows, you see a small snippet of my life. You know, being trapped and locked in a jungle for three weeks, which was stressful, was pretty good for me in terms of weight management because I lost 10 kilos in there. So I’ve found nine of them now!

I lost 10 kilos there. It was a crazy experience. It was a bit of a nuts experience, and one that I wasn’t expecting to be as tough as it was, but it was. But it’s one I’m also happy I completed and got through.

Would you do any of the other reality TV shows? Surely Strictly Come Dancing? You had the footwork in boxing!

Tony: Oh, absolutely not. Not me, no. We’ve all heard stories. All the talk, and I’ve had enough advice not to want to be doing that. So, yeah, that’s not for me. I’m happy with what I’m doing. But, you know, I do think they’re great shows. I think they’re all brilliant.

I think throwing yourself into something for two to three months is hard, and learning a new discipline is always hard. So I’m always open to trying things, but for me, like I said before, the most important thing is that I’m around my kids and raising them properly. I’m doing a good job, and my wife’s doing a brilliant job.

I’ve got one kid who’s got through university and got a first-class honors degree. I’ve got an 18-year-old who’s aspiring and chasing his dreams. I’ve got another 13-year-old who’s chasing his dreams, and he’s been at Everton Football Club for six years.

And then I’ve got a six-year-old, my final little project. He’s just happy. He’s just happy, and that’s the most important thing in the world. I mean, my kids wake up and they’re happy. I’m trying to look after the people I love and my family. That’s the most important thing.