Tony Bellew has been very vocal recently about his possible future opponents. He has mentioned Tyson Fury, he’s is definitely also after WBO champion Joseph Parker and let’s not forget the rematch against David Haye. But there is one challenge Bellew will not take on under any circumstances.
“There’s not a chance in this world I’m getting in with Anthony Joshua. It’s not happening. I actually really like the lad. I’ve got to know him over a period of time. That aside, I don’t want to get punched everywhere. He’s too big. I can probably make him miss the first two punches but he’s the only heavyweight in the world who gets in front of another heavyweight and throws three, four, five, six punch combinations and doesn’t care what’s coming back. At that weight and that size, he’s probably going to hurt me as well. There’s no point in making a load of money and then I’m in a grave. I don’t want to get an arse whooping off a guy his size. There’s nothing I can do to him,” admitted Bellew in an interview with boxingnewsonline.net.
As you can tell, Bellew has tremendous respect for Anthony Joshua. Even though technically he is not the unified champion just yet, ‘The Bomber’ thinks Joshua is the clear cut number one in the division.
“To me he’s the best heavyweight in the world, defeating Klitschko the way he did. It was unbelievable the way he done it,” said Bellew.
The Liverpudlian also took a little jab at Tyson Fury. Bellew thinks Fury’s parade as the number one heavyweight is over due to inactivity.
“Don’t get me wrong, Tyson Fury is a brilliant fighter he really is and I can still see people still have him as the lineal heavyweight champion of the world. But at the end of the day, it’s 18 months ago [since Fury beat Klitschko] and he hasn’t done a single thing since and it needs to be addressed,” said Bellew.
As previously mentioned, Bellew has been talking a lot about WBO champ Parker. He wants to fight him because he truly feels he can beat him. Bellew is also certain that without a doubt Parker would fail against Joshua.
“Parker poses some similar problems to be honest but I don’t believe he’s anywhere near as technically good as Joshua. I don’t believe he’s anywhere near as fast and I don’t believe he’s anywhere near as powerful. What he has got, he has got that youth on his side and he has got the ability. He is strong, to be fair. Not as strong as Anthony Joshua but he’s strong and he’s got youth on his side. They’re the advantages he has over me. Technical ability, absolutely not. Speed, absolutely not. But youth and power, yes he does. I’ve got to weigh up the options, the pros and cons and see if it’s worth doing. If it is, we’ll do it. I’ve got a couple of big nights left in me, we’ll just be wise with the matches,” Bellew summarised.