Tony Bellew has hinted that he is ready to come out of boxing retirement.
Everton fan Bellew became cruiserweight world champion with a TKO win over Ilunga Makabu at Goodison Park, back in 2016. ‘Bomber’ Bellew successfully defended his WBC belt against BJ Flores and won two consecutive fights against David Haye before bowing out of the sport in 2018 by challenging Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed cruiserweight crown.
It is four-and-a-half years since Bellew announced his retirement and he has since become a prominent boxing pundit. However, it appears that the 40-year-old may have his eyes on another world title after calling out a potential opponent on Twitter.
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Bellew sent a message to Bridgerweight world champion Lukasz Rozanski, who won his title in April with a first round win over Alen Babic: “I think you’re in need of a fight that goes past 4 rounds @RozanskiBoxi,” Bellew said. “I’m bored and don’t see anything that suggests you can do it against me! What you think?”
Undefeated Rozanski, 37, has won all but one of his 15 fights by KO and responded to Bellew’s proposal. “Why not? I'm waiting for a good offer,” he replied, “are you sure you can last it?”
The relatively new weight class (200-224 lbs) was created by the WBC in 2020 and would theoretically be a good fit for Bellew, whose career-heaviest was 213 lbs for his first fight with David Haye. The possible matchup brought an excited reaction from some recognisable names, too.
Bellew’s coach Dave Coldwell responded with an eyes emoji, while IBF bantamweight champion Ebanie Bridges admitted she would look forward to training alongside ‘The Bomber’. Responding on Twitter, Bridges wrote: “Tbf id bloody love to have someone as experienced and successful as @TonyBellew back in the gym !!!! 2xBombers. hope he comes back.”
Meanwhile, recently retired boxer and fellow scouser Anthony Fowler replied, “I’d love to see this for selfish reasons.”
