In an exclusive interview with Best Offshore Sportsbooks, former cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellew sat down to discuss all things in the world of boxing.

‘The Bomber’ also expressed his views on Anthony Joshua’s decision to snub a rematch with Daniel Dubois and crowned Oleksandr Usyk as his fighter of the year.

Bellew ranks some of the hottest talent in British boxing at the minute and gives a few words of advice to fellow Scouser, Coleen Rooney, who is set to enter the jungle and compete on I’m A Celebrity.

Q: Who do you think deserves to be crowned the Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year? Oleksandr Usyk has only won it once in his career so far.

Tony Bellew: “Oh, wow, that’s a bit nuts. I mean, doing what he’s done to the cruiserweight division, and myself, I think he more than, without a shadow of a doubt deserves to be a couple of times winner o that at least. I just think for the job he’s done in the heavyweight division, you can’t look past Oleksandr Usyk. Don’t get me wrong, I think Terence Crawford’s amazing. I think there’s some shining stars out there. I think Bam Rodriguez is on the roll of a lifetime. I think Naira Inouye is just a monster. But no one, besides me, thought that Oleksandr Usyk was going to do what he did to Tyson Fury. There’s just no two ways about it. It’s nailed on if he’s to beat him again. But even before he gets in the ring, I think he should be given it.”

Q: Lennox Lewis says he wants to see Tyson Fury heavier for the rematch. Do you think he’ll come in a stone or so heavier? 

TB: “I just don’t think it adds to the equation. Coming in heavier, If anything, it’s going to slow him down. He needs to be able to get to Usyk, he needs to be able to land on him and then be able to jump on him for the second phase of the attack. And if you’re heavier, you’re not going to get there, you’re going to miss the second phase of the attack. And that for me is the biggest part. I just feel the most important thing going into this fight is the actual tactics, forget about your weight. What is your game plan going into the fight? You literally have to have a step by step game plan to beat Usyk. I had it, but got tired after eight rounds. So that’s no good. If it was a seven round fight, I’d be undisputed world champion. But it wasn’t, it was a 12 round fight and unfortunately he just gets stronger and stronger as the fight goes on. So he knows only too well. I’ve never, ever been as tired as it was after that fight ever in my whole entire life. AJ said the same thing to me. I’m pretty sure when Tyson Fury finished that first fight with him, it’ll have been the most tired he’s ever been as well. I must also touch upon and say this. I’m not detracting anything from Usyk but what Tyson Fury’s had to go through in his personal life is just heartbreaking. My thoughts go out to him and his family.”

Q: It’s nothing like Conor McGregor vs Floyd Mayweather is it?

TB: “No chance, they wanted to win, didn’t they? One was a UFC dual weight champion and was in his fighting prime. Mike Tyson’s a granddad. He’s 58 years old. He’s closing in on 60 and he’s fighting a man who isn’t even half his age. The Disney boy is just attacking granddads now. It’s truly frightening. I mean, we might as well go to the retirements home and start getting out a few of them because. If Mike turns up and lands a right hand on him, he’s going to sleep. So who should he come back against? A 70 year old? If he wins, I mean, is he going to keep going like that with the age? Is he going to come down? Is he going to face a real boxer?”

Q: Alright, let’s talk about the British fight scene at the moment. Because it’s in a good place. I’ll read out some names and you say if you think they would be in your top 5 British fighters right now.

Fabio Wardley? “Okay.”

Daniel Dubois? “Yes.”

Jack Catterall? “Yes.”

Sonny Edwards? “No. Only, that’s harsh that to be fair, cause he’s only lost to Bam. So he’s a really good fighter. When you say rate them, what am I, in terms of what? Rate them as in just pound for pound in Britain?” Yeah. “I can’t rate him, you know, he hasn’t fought anyone since Bam, yeah? Yeah. If he’s to beat Galal, then he does go back into the pound for pound.” That’ll be a good fight, won’t it? “That’s a brilliant fight. All British affair. Yeah, Olympic gold medalist, up against an ex-world champion. Yeah, great fight. It’s got the hallmarks of a classic.”

Chris Billum Smith? “He’s fighting again this week against Gilberto Ramirez. That’s a good fight. You know what? I think Billum Smith’s a massively improved fighter and you can only credit Shane McGuigan for that. He’s done a great job with Chris Billum Smith. The job he’s did on Lawrence Okolie was fantastic. The Riakporhe win, avenging a defeat I think it was as well. It was a fantastic result.”

Hamza Sheeraz? “Oh wow, some talent. I rate him massively. Big, big talent. He doesn’t have that signature win in his career yet, so I have to rate Chris Billum Smith over him. He’s got two signature wins there against Riakporhe and Okolie. So for now, I’ll have him just slightly above Hamza Sheeraz. But in terms of ability and where I think he’s going and what trajectory he’s on, Hamza Sheeraz is going to the very top.”

Tyson Fury? “Of course, he’s up there. Without a doubt.”

Q: Anthony Joshua will not be taking up the Daniel Dubois rematch by the sounds of things. What do you think has led him to that decision?  

TB: “I think it’s a smart business decision to just sit and wait. I think it’s really smart. I mean, it wouldn’t be my decision. But then not everyone thinks like me. I’m also not dealing on the same kind of business level as Anthony Joshua. So who am I to make decisions and wait to see what happens with Fury and Usyk. It’s the smart thing to do. But I also think it’s the wise thing to do. Going back into camp so soon after such a shell shock defeat is very hard to do, getting your head round things a little bit of time away from the game. Taking stock, reflecting on what you’ve done, how far you’ve come, where you are right now. Preparing correctly. 

“You know, when you’re going to a rematch with someone like Daniel Dubois, you know exactly what you’re getting into. His style’s not going to change. What you’ve got to change is your performance, and then also what you’ve got to change is your mindset going into that rematch. You’ve got to do something different. If you want different results, you’ve got to do something you’ve never had before, that you’ve never done before.” So he needs to kind of rebuild? “Of course. I mean, rebuild is a strong word. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with his coaching team. I think Ben Davison is a good coach. Do I think he gave out a bit of bad advice?

“Yeah. But then, should’ve his left hand been glued to the side of his face when going for an uppercut? Absolutely. He knows that. But, I’m not gonna lie, I also think he was one or two shots away from winning the fight. When that right hand lands, I think it was in round five, on the side of Dubois’ head, you see he gets a reaction. He’s going in for the kill. It’s just amazing. As fighters we know it’s a cardinal sin to go in for the uppercuts. It’s been when you’re going in for the uppercuts, this has to be in tight, because the chances are he’s going to sling a right hand. You see this coming before you see this coming. So the minute someone loads up with this, you want to meet them. You want to meet them because you know you’re going to get there first. And just as he comes, he’s coming from up here. It’s so visible, it’s just, it’s a basic error. We make them and that’s what makes fighting. He’s got everything firmly in place to win a rematch. I genuinely believe that. It’s just, it’s here for me (in the heart).”

Q: Daniel Dubois, what’s next for him? Joseph Parker or the boogeyman Martin Bakole?

TB: “I mean, I wouldn’t touch Bakole with a barge pole if I was anyone in the heavyweight division. He’s a problem. At that kind of size, with that kind of power, he’ll be quicker than most of the heavyweights around because he’s been used to dealing with cruiserweights for so long. I just think it’s a bad matchup. There’s no fighter more deserving in the whole world than Joseph Parker. This guy’s gone through bogeyman after bogeyman after bogeyman, he’s defeated fighters Against The Odds, the win over Zhilei Zhang. After meeting Deontay Wilder, you think, okay, give him a title shot. No, let’s just throw him in again with Zhilei Zhang. Another bogeyman no one wants to touch. And I class Zhilei Zhang as undefeated. Because I thought Zhilei Zhang got the win against Hrgovic. But for Joseph Parker to go in there and get dropped a few times, get hit in that fight on a few occasions. And he told me personally himself, that’s the hardest he’s ever been in his life. He said he was so heavy and said that every time he touched me, he was so heavy. I just don’t think anyone’s more deserving of a shot than Joseph Parker. Not an ounce of fear in him. He’ll fight anyone, anytime, anyplace. The job he and Andy Lee are doing together is commendable. I think Andy Lee’s turned into a brilliant young coach.”

Q: Malik Scott says Deontay Wilder will definitely fight again in 2024. What do you think is driving him to continue his career after losing 4 of his last 5 fights? Apparently he fought Zhang and Parker with a broken arm!

TB: “Money. Money and ego. I think his pride is hurting. I don’t think for a second that he was in the ring against Zhang or Parker with a broken arm. Not a chance, no one’s getting in a ring with a broken arm. You literally aren’t throwing shots.”

I think he didn’t know. He thought it was an old injury, but it turned out to be like a fracture. “I think Deontay is clutching at straws. I’ve got a lot of respect for Deontay, he’s a very powerful, one dimensional fighter. He’s a one trick pony, it’s just a hell of a trick. If that trick catches you, you wake up in an ambulance. But at the same time, I think he’s running out of excuses now and he’s just got to accept that he’s a very limited fighter technically and he’s gone an awful long way with that very limited ability. Power speaks and he’s done really well with the cards he was dealt and fair play to him, but don’t make excuses and tarnish other people’s careers, blaming injuries and stuff like that on your losses. I hear this thing that he is one of the most powerful punchers ever, who has he actually knocked out? He knocked out a 95-year-old Luis Ortiz and that’s about it. Okay, he’s had Tyson Fury on the floor but let’s be honest, I think John McDermott had Tyson Fury on the floor as well. Steve Cunningham had Tyson Fury on the floor. And Francis Ngannou. It’s not about who you have put on the floor, it’s about who you have kept on the floor. That’s what boxing is about for me. You look at the biggest punchers we’ve ever seen, Mike Tyson has knockout wins over the likes of Larry Holmes, okay, albeit a slightly older version of Larry Holmes. He’s got a knockout victory over a prime Michael Spinks, who defeated a very good Larry Holmes in his prime. Those kinds of victories stand you in good stead, they really do. For me, the biggest puncher of all, without a shadow of a doubt is George Foreman. George Foreman rendered Ken Norton unconscious. He rendered Joe Frazier unconscious. Now, these aren’t just world class fighters, these are icons of the sport. When you’re knocking out world class icons, then you know you’re the biggest puncher in the sport. I don’t think there’s been a better knockout victory than stopping someone like Joe Frazier.”

I think it’s kind of more revisionism, isn’t it? Because it happened recently with Deontay Wilder. “I think you’re right. A lot of people don’t remember. Everyone gets ahead of themselves, you’ve got to look back through the history of the sport and associate yourself with the greats. And then ultimately, you’ll find the answers that lead you somewhere.”

Q: If Eddie Hearn and Oscar De La Hoya move their five-v-five trash talk from social media and put together this proposed mega-fight event, will it be the biggest boxing show of 2025?

TB: “It’s nuts. Yes, I do think it will happen. It makes great TV. It makes great viewing. I’ll just be advising Ed to stay away from the boxing gloves. He doesn’t need that. As he’s said already, everyone’s got a price. He’s not lying. We all do have a price. But Oscar De La Hoya is a boxing icon, a legend.”

Are they talking about those two themselves getting in the ring? “Yeah, they are. We’ll see. It’s one of those things. It is what it is. But the actual card that’s getting put together, it sounds absolutely phenomenal. I mean, Vergil Ortiz against Boots Ennis is just a phenomenal fight. I don’t see anyone beating Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis any time soon.”

We’ve also got Devin Haney vs Oscar Duarte? “Yeah, Haney’s not really a Matchroom fighter. He’s more of a free agent. He travels about and does what he wants. But I think the Duarte fight is a good fight.”

Jack Catterall versus the winner of Jose Ramirez vs Arnold Barboza? “No one is beating Jack Catterall at 140. The only person who has a possibility or a chance of beating him is Teofimo Lopez and I wouldn’t even say that’s a definite. Jack Catterall has one of the most awkward styles and one of the hardest styles, in all of boxing right now, to compete with. This is a fighter who will not change his game plan regardless of what’s going on. He will make you change yours and then he will end up catching you as Regis Prograis found out. He waited, he was so patient and in round four he lands that big left hand that rocks Regis and then that brings Regis to him because he feels like he’s got to chase, now he’s behind. The minute Regis Prograis starts coming to him, he finds out exactly how hard it is to figure out the puzzle that is Jack Catterall. He’s a nightmare, he really is. You shouldn’t even be allowed to box a southpaw straightaway, they should be thrown out the gym the minute they put their right foot first. His timing, and he’s so heavy handed. People don’t realize how heavy handed he is. He’s got to a level and a standard now that he’s hurting everyone he touches. It was quite clear to me every time he hit Josh Taylor with a clean shot, he was wobbling and hurting him in the rematch. Every time he hit Regis clean, he was hurting him and getting reactions out of him. These are fighters who no one else can usually butch.” True, it’s a good point, the power seemingly coming later on in his career. “It’s because he doesn’t hold up. He just lets the shots go. He lets his hands go and I think he’s got an awful lot of confidence in his own chin. He has no fear of what’s actually coming back. It’s such a good place to be in. I don’t want to say signature win because he’s got two now over the likes of Josh Taylor and the likes of Regis Prograis. I think a win over someone like Teofimo Lopez puts you in pound-for-pound ranking stuff. I think he beats everyone else. I think the hardest fight for him is Lopez, if I’m being totally honest. Everyone else, I think he beats hands down.”

What about Shakur Stevenson vs Jose Zepeda? “I don’t think anyone is beating Shakur Stevenson. I think the quality that boy possesses is just second to none.”

And Jaime Munguía vs Diego Pacheco? “That’s a really good fight. That is a good fight because we just don’t know where Pacheco is at right now. He hasn’t really been tested and pushed to the limit yet whereas we know with Munguia, we’ve seen him in against Canelo. We’ve seen his limitations, shall we say. Good fighter, really game, unbelievable work rate. But would that be enough to beat Pacheco? I mean, right now on paper, I’d probably favor Munguia going into that. Purely because I haven’t seen Pacheco tested yet. That doesn’t mean to take anything away from him. Pacheco, just because he hasn’t shown us it yet, doesn’t mean he can’t do it. But you’ve still got to go with the form and the form guide leads you towards Munguia on a points decision. However, nothing would surprise me in that fight. Because, as I said before, I just don’t know how good Pacheco is yet.”

Q: DAZN have linked up with Queensberry after Frank Warren used to take the piss out of it. Is it good for boxing?

TB: “Completely new turnaround now, isn’t it? Everyone turns around at some point when the money gets involved. It’s a 360. Listen, whatever works best for boxing fans. This is obviously a good deal for DAZN, it’s a good deal for boxing fans. Having two of the biggest promoters under one broadcast banner is the most important thing for boxing fans. So, taking your personal grievances aside, it’s a good thing. The more boxing on DAZN, the better. The promoters working together is a good thing. I think all promoters need to be working together, I really do. Put away your ego, put away your agenda because every manager and every promoter, these guys have got their own agendas and they’ve all got something they want to push. I just think what’s most important is that all these are being brushed to the side. Let’s be brutally honest with you, that is because of his excellency, Mr Turki Alalshikh. That’s why all these egos are getting pushed aside because they’re all making enough money and they want to basically keep him happy. You can’t knock that because that means the big fight’s happening. So I’m fully behind it, everything that he’s doing for boxing, I’m happy, I’m made up. I might not be part of it, but so what? Boxing is benefiting from it. And that’s basically all I really care about. I love the sport, I’ve grown up with the sport, I’ve thrived in the sport. And I understand now it’s record breaking numbers that are coming through the sport, and that’s thanks to him, so brilliant.”

Q: Conor Benn’s suspension has been lifted which is great news. We spoke to George Groves recently and he thinks Benn will beat Eubank Jr when they finally fight. Do you agree?

TB: “I’m worried about the weight, I’m not gonna lie. It’s a big weight jump and there’s a big size difference between them. If Eubank is allowed to bulk up to what he wants to bulk up to, and Conor’s being asked to get to unrealistic weights, then it’s quite clear to see, the more explosive fighter of the two and the fighter that you want to watch is without a shadow of a doubt, Conor Benn. I just don’t know if he’s being stretched a bit too far. That’s my only worry, but I’ll be backing Conor all day and I’ll be hoping he gets the job done because he’s a good kid, I’m so happy his name is being cleared. For all those that doubted him, for all those that said about this testing, if you do your research and look up on this thing, it’s happening more and more to athletes with this kind of thing. We all know what it is and look it up. Educate yourself. I had to look it up. I had to read about it. The pluses, the negatives, why they’re actually coming about more now, it’s a 15% increase in all of sports with this kind of thing, what’s going on. It needs to be looked at. When you say 15% in sport around anti-doping that is massive. 15% of all athletes are being drug tested. I think the biggest thing for Conor Benn is, they’ve said he hasn’t done anything wrong. I feel for him, two years is a long time out. Psychologically, it’s huge.”

Q: What do you think of the Joe Cordina situation? He said he basically feels frozen out by Matchroom. Carl Froch has stuck the boot in too.

TB: “Do you know what? It sounds like six of one, half a dozen of the other. It’s a bit of handbags. I like Joe. Joe was my pick when they came out of the Olympics, that little trio of them, he was my pick to be a superstar. The Anthony Cacace fight just caught everyone by surprise. No one saw it coming. I think Joe Cordina is a brilliant fighter. As for contractual obligations, all that stuff is, as I said before, the political side of the game. You can say you feel frozen out because that’s how he feels. Those are his personal feelings and I get it 100% but understand the reason you’re frozen out is because you haven’t got a contract. So no one’s got a responsibility or a due diligence to you if you’re not under contract with them and you have to understand that. As promoters, like I said before, these guys have got agendas. They’ve got things that they want to do for them and their company and the thing that they want to do is push and promote the fighters that they have under contract. No one’s going to push a fighter who’s not under contract. I think, take the Cacace fight out of the equation, he just needs to be under contract. Listen, I think I’m the only fighter in the history of Matchroom who wasn’t under contract. But we dealt on handshakes. It worked well for me because I had serious trust issues about where I had been previously. Eddie and I worked on that, and in the end I trusted him enough to send him to the meetings that I needed to be at. I was very fortunate. But for other fighters, you’re not always gonna have that relationship with the promoter and I think the game is so big now, boxing’s even bigger than when I was in it, that with the commercial opportunity you’ve got you have to have contracts signed. You have to maximize it. Security is a big thing now. Listen, it’s as much on Joe as it is on Eddie. If I was a fighter coming now, I wouldn’t be in the ring without a contract. Because of where boxing is right now, I would want security. It doesn’t mean to say I’ve got not any confidence in myself, it doesn’t mean I think I’m going to lose, but I’d want the security.”

Well, Fabio Wardley took the risk, didn’t he? “Yeah, he backed himself and it worked out massively. I’m sure it will all come around again. The way Frank and Eddie are dealing with each other at the moment, it might as well be just one big stable. At this moment in time, both of their agendas align. How long will that continue for? I don’t know. But I hope it’s for a while because it’s for the better of boxing.”

Q: Do you have any advice for Coleen Rooney ahead of her venturing into the jungle on I’m A Celeb?

TB: “The hunger was tough. I saw Coleen recently. If she’s to go in, she has obviously got my best wishes and I’m wishing her all the very best. We’ve just got to wait now and see where she’s at and how she does. She’s a crafty girl. She’s a proper Scouser and everyone should be behind her from my city and not just from my city, from everywhere, because she’s one of the best people you could wish to know. A brilliant mother. She’s on top of the kids. Our kids both play in academies so we come across each other often. She’s always there supporting the kids on the sidelines. She’s done a brilliant job, fantastic mother, a brilliant person. And she’s created a lovely family. I’m rooting for her 100%.”

Barry McGuigan, don’t know if you know much about him? “I know Barry, yeah.” Surprised to see him going in there? Gave us a bit of a left field choice I thought. “I don’t know, I think he must have a fair few things he wants to get off his chest.”

Q: What do you make of the face-to-face? Jake Paul giving Tyson a $3k pigeon?

TB: “Must be a good pigeon.”

Q: Do you think the audience will get their money’s worth for Paul v Tyson? Or is it all this build up for a damp squid of a fight?

TB: “At 6.99 you can’t go wrong, you’re going to be entertained. For 6.99, you’re getting to see probably the greatest rematch female boxing has ever seen in Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano. Don’t sleep on that. For the first fight, I was there at Madison Square Garden and it was one of the best fights I have ever seen. Katie Taylor is just an unbelievable fighter. She righted the wrong that she’s had in her career and now she’s back to face Serrano once again. It’s a toss up between Katie Taylor and Claressa Shields as the greatest female fighters of all time. You can’t really look past Shields as she is still undefeated. She just bosses everyone. She’s fantastic. But Katie Taylor, for me, is just a phenom. What she’s done for female boxing in the UK is just huge. I give her so much credit. She deserves every penny of that $6 million.”