Tony Bellew is a former world champion boxer, who retired from the sport in 2018. Nicknamed ‘The Bomber’, the 41-year-old has also enjoyed a successful acting career, as well as moving into punditry and colour commentary for big boxing shows since his retirement.
Who Is Tony Bellew?
Tony Bellew is the former WBC world cruiserweight champion, as well as having fought for the undisputed world titles against the great Oleksandr Usyk.
Not only was Bellew an extremely successful boxer, but he also dabbled into a bit of acting as well as boxing punditry and TV. ‘The Bomber’ is of course currently in the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! jungle, and is the new jungle favourite to win the reality TV show with UK bookmakers.
Since his retirement in 2018 from professional boxing, Bellew has taken up a role as a colour commentator/pundit. He tends to get involved with Matchroom Boxing shows promoted by Eddie Hearn, and is frequently used as a boxing expert as part of the DAZN team.
Not only that, but Bellew of course starred in the Rocky spin-off movie Creed as ‘Pretty’ Ricky Conlan. He was also in Creed III. In 2020, Bellew was a contestant on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. He is a fan of his beloved Everton FC, and walked out to the ‘Theme From Z-Cars’ track for his fights – the same tune Everton walk out onto the pitch to.
Tony Bellew Professional Boxing Record
Tony Bellew’s boxing record was an impressive one. He fought a total of 34 times, winning 30 fights and losing just three. Of his 30 wins, 20 came by way of knockout and 10 by decision.
He won every belt on his way up to the top level, from Commonwealth, British, European and World titles.
Total fights: 34
Wins: 30-3-1
Wins by KO: 20
Losses: 3
Tony Bellew vs David Haye Rivalry
By far and away the biggest rivalry of Tony Bellew’s illustrious boxing career was his rivalry with fellow Brit David Haye.
Much to the shock of the boxing public, promoter Eddie Hearn announced that Tony Bellew would take on David Haye in March 2017. The fight happened, with a reported 890,000+ buys at the pay-per-view. Both men earned huge amounts of cash, with Bellew earning a career-high payday in the process.
Bellew won the first fight via knockout in the 11th round, with Haye sustaining an achilles injury during the bout. Haye’s pride mean that he wouldn’t admit that Bellew beat him fair and square. This meant the pair rematched over a year later in May 2018.
Second time around, Bellew dismantled Haye in even quicker fashion – knocking ‘The Hayemaker’ out in just five rounds of the rematch. Bellew sent bitter rival Haye into retirement, earning millions in the process.
Bellew was seen as the outsider in both fights with Haye and was a massive underdog with the best boxing betting sites in both fights.
Boxing has a way of bringing people together, and the same can be said for Haye and Bellew. Neither man would go as far to say that they are now friends, but they respect each other and have worked together since their rivalry on numerous occasions.
Tony Bellew Net Worth
As well as being an extremely successful boxer/actor turned boxing pundit, Tony Bellew is also an extremely rich man. As of today, it is estimated that Tony Bellew’s net worth is somewhere in the region of £9-10 million.
The two fights with David Haye earned Bellew over £8 million in total alone, not to mention the other six or seven figure paydays ‘The Bomber’ received throughout his boxing career.
Bellew’s goal all along in boxing was to secure his families financial security, which he has of course done now, and some.
Tony Bellew Wife
Tony Bellew is happily married to his wife Rachael Bellew (formerly Roberts). The pair officially tied the knot back in May 2018 at a private ceremony at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire. However, Bellew and wife Rachael have been together for far longer than that.
The former WBC world cruiserweight champion has been with Rachael since he was 18, with their romance starting after Bellew asked Rachael out on a date whilst working on the doors at nightclubs in Liverpool.
Funnily enough, wife Rachael now admits that she wasn’t keen on Bellew at first and even rejected him three times before agreeing to go on a date!
Tony Bellew and wife Rachael have three children together – all boys. Children Cobey, Corey and Carter are all big Evertonians like their Dad and enjoy going to the matches to cheer on their beloved Blues with Bellew.
Tony Bellew Acting Career
Whilst still a professional boxer and prior to becoming world champion, Tony Bellew had a big part in Hollywood hit boxing film – Creed. Bellew starred alongside the likes of Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan as ‘Pretty’ Rick Conlan in the 2015 film.
The Creed movie was of course a spin-off of the most popular boxing film series of all time – Rocky. Bellew continued his boxing career before then appearing in Creed III in early 2023, once again as the loudmouth boxer Ricky Conlan.
It is unlikely Bellew ever boxes again, but he could well act in more movies. Do not rule Bellew out from featuring in another boxing film in the not so distant future. Who knows, if the Creed series continues, he may well get to play another huge part going forward.
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