What’s Next for Tony Bellew?

By Faisal “Fayz” Masood

In 2015, very few people in the USA knew who Tony Bellew was. If you weren’t a hardcore fan of British Boxing, you likely didn’t who he was either, but then a movie was released named “Creed”. “Pretty” Ricky Conlan was his name and he was the World Champion facing Creed in the ring for one last fight before being forced to retire due to an impending prison term.

The character of Pretty Ricky was of course played by Tony Bellew and since playing his part in the movie, Bellew’s boxing career has taken one good turn after another, becoming a World Champion just as he was in the movie, in 2016 when he knocked out Ilunga Makabu for the vacant WBC Cruiserweight title. The latest twist though to the storyline of Tony Bellew was not such good news for the Liverpool born boxer. Slated to fight David Haye on Sunday 17th December, the Hayemaker called off the fight after a freak injury during a stair conditioning workout, tearing his biceps.

We’re all well aware of what happened in the first fight between the pair which took place in March this year. After a bad tempered build up to the fight which included Haye landing a left hook on Bellew in the press conference, Bellew fighting as a Heavyweight for the first time, entered the ring as the heavy underdog with the majority of fight pundits foreseeing an early knockout win for David Haye. Although there was no early knockout, Haye looked to be the more imposing of the two in the early going but then disaster struck in the sixth round as Haye hurt his ankle and began hobbling around the ring. Unable to plant his feet to punch or move to avoid punches, the writing was on the wall, Round Eleven to be precise, Hayes trainer Shane McGuigan throwing in the towel as Bellew punched Haye through the ropes.

David Haye wanted a rematch, but first he would need to recover from the injury sustained during the fight, which turned out to be a gruesome rupture of the achilles tendon. Tony Bellew, sporting a broken hand was only too happy to oblige, why wouldn’t he? Another career pay day awaited him…..

Now with Haye adding to his long list of injuries during his boxing career(the most famous of these being the injured little toe he carried into his bout with Heavyweight Champion Wladmir Klitschko in 2011) it leaves Tony Bellew free to enjoy Christmas and watch reruns of Home Alone and Back to the future and probably add to his 213lb frame with several mince pies….

Who knows whether Haye will ever return to full health after three and a half years out of the sport before coming back to take on, as Tony Bellew so mildly put it ‘two nightclub doormen’ who only managed to last a combined three rounds between them. His 3rd fight in the comeback trail was his loss to Tony Bellew but even before the first sabbatical from boxing, Haye was not the most active of fighters. Haye fought once in 2012, against Dereck Chisora, and once in 2011 against Wladmir. Before this he fought two times in 2010 and again just once in 2009. Will Haye, who is now 37 ever return anywhere near to the level he once previously held? For fighters, remaining active is essential, your timing in fights gradually disappears and your desire to endure long hard training camps also diminishes the longer you stay out of the sport. Very few boxers can come back from such a lengthy layoff and not show any signs of regression, even the great Muhammad Ali was never the same after returning to the sport in 1970 after an enforced absence of three and a half years – and Ali was still only 28yrs old upon his return.

But Christmas may have come at just the right time for Tony Bellew, Scrooge is nowhere in sight as the potential for an even bigger fight with even more money at stake has appeared and one man has thrown his hat into the ring to do battle with Bellew. No, it’s not another movie fight with Creed or Drago in the movie sequel – it’s one man who according to Bellew, is fatter than he is, The former Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury.

Fury has his own demons to battle with, from mental health to weight issues and like Haye who had over 3yrs off, Fury is currently sitting at over 2yrs off. Bellew was smart, he knew that Haye was coming off a lengthy lay off and had not been tested against quality opposition in his two comeback fights. He chose to call out Haye at the best time, knowing it was a fight he could well win and also pocket substantially more than he had earned previously in his career. Now Fury is playing the same trick on Bellew. Fury knows he has been out of the ring for 2yrs and a tune up fight with a blown up Cruiserweight would present him with a potentially easy win before he goes on to challenge any of the title holders in the division. It is also a fight which will stoke up enough hype to interest Fury and motivate him to work harder to lose weight and get into shape. Adding to the hype it will generate will be plenty of money for both fighters, a giant domestic clash and two trash talking fighters who will ensure the build up gets plenty of exposure, much in the same way Bellew and Haye did for their first time in March earlier this year, only this fight would be bigger.

Bellew for his part, has accepted the challenge and why not? Bellew genuinely believes in himself and has had a fairy tale two years, why won’t he believe the story can go on? But Tyson Fury will be playing the part of the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk in Bellews fairy tale. David Haye like Bellew was really a Cruiserweight and was similar in size to Bellew, Fury though is a massive 6’9 and over 250lbs (if he comes in fit) and was undoubtedly the best Heavyweight in the division at the time of his departure. Bellew may be viewing Fury as the Hen which lays golden eggs, but he would be well advised to keep his magic beans to himself and avoiding having to climb the beanstalk to face the man mountain Tyson Fury.

Fayz has also published three books available for download on Amazon and also runs his own Personal Training site and blog over at Fayz Fitness.

Check out his books on Amazon:

Strength and Conditioning for Boxing – Workout Hits to get you Fighting Fit

The Boxing Cheat Sheet – Your Ultimate Guide to Ring Survival

Forgotten Legends Of The Ring – Ten Past Masters of the Ring

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