Tony Bellew makes surprising admission about Anthony Joshua years after saying he wouldn’t fight him
Tony Bellew recently shared that he would be open to fighting Anthony Joshua now, even though he had previously said no to the idea. Bellew retired from boxing almost eight years ago after being knocked out by Oleksandr Usyk at Manchester Arena.
Since then, Usyk has become one of the best fighters of this generation, holding two undisputed heavyweight titles and winning all 24 of his fights. The 39-year-old just gave up his WBA, WBC, and IBF belts and might have a big final fight against Deontay Wilder soon.
Looking back at his own career, Bellew said he’s proud of what he achieved. He had 20 knockouts and only three losses in 33 fights. He was the WBC cruiserweight champion in 2016 after knocking out Ilunga Makabu, then moved up to heavyweight in 2017. That year, he beat David Haye twice, including a big knockout win.
Bellew once dreamed of becoming heavyweight champion and there was talk he might fight the winner of the April 2017 bout between Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko. But back then, Bellew said Joshua was too big for him, calling himself “a big cruiserweight, a very small heavyweight.” Even though he admired Joshua, he didn’t want to fight him.
Fast forward nearly ten years, Bellew has changed his mind. On the Fights Your Corner podcast, he said he would definitely get in the ring with Joshua now, even if he doesn’t want to. He said, “every man has a price,” and that he wants to help Joshua. He also praised Brendan Ingle, a trainer who could have helped Joshua improve his style.
Right now, Joshua is getting ready to fight Kristian Prenga in Saudi Arabia on July 25. If Joshua wins, it might lead to a long-awaited match against Tyson Fury in Las Vegas.