HE’S a former boxing legend with a world champion record, and now Tony 'Bomber' Bellew is taking on a new challenge – the Australian jungle.
The 40-year-old, who has entered I’m A Celebrity as a late arrival alongside jockey Frankie Dettori, said: “This is going to be very hard and I am apprehensive.
“I had to think long and hard about doing it, because it is so out of my comfort zone, and it was my missus who talked me around to doing it."
But his boxer pal Joe Egan has revealed that the ITV show will be a walk in the park compared to what he’s endured throughout his career.
“The jungle will be nothing like going into a training camp he did for his world title fights,” Joe says.
“When he did the training camp for 12 weeks for a world title fight, you become a recluse. You’re away from your family and away from your luxuries because you’re preparing for a fight.
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“Whether it’s a challenge for a world title or a defence world title, that man was a Spartan warrior.
“Whatever creatures are in that jungle will be scared of Tony Bellew. Spiders or snakes will be nothing compared to the men he’s had to fight!”
Despite tensions often running high in camp – thanks to lack of food and sleep – Joe says Tony will be as cool as a cucumber.
He explains: “Some people get under our skin and I’m sure when they do, Tony won’t have to lose his temper. He speaks his mind and speaks from the heart. There’s no artificial side attached to Tony. You will see the real him.
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12“Yes, he’s bound to have anger issues, we all have anger issues and have a breaking point. But in general he’s a really nice guy. He’s a very personable man. He’s very articulate and very conversational.
“And the fact he’s not preparing for a fight means he won’t have to be in that zone. So he will be a lot more at ease in the jungle as it won’t be a training camp.”
He adds: “Whatever diet and restrictions they’ve got in the jungle Tony will have no problem – that won’t be a major obstacle.
“When he was making weight for light heavyweight, he would’ve been limited to his calorie intake. So three course meals would’ve been off the agenda at the training camp and he would’ve been on a very strict diet.”
Humble beginnings
Tony has certainly worked hard to get where he is today.
He grew up in Liverpool and worked as a bouncer before he began boxing at the age of 16.
He previously admitted: “I left school without any qualifications.
"I'm working on a nightclub door before I've even left school. And Liverpool can be a tough place to be raised in, especially the night life.
"So when you've got a father strapping a bullet proof vest on you for work … then you know, it's work but you've got to earn money."
He first started kickboxing at 10, after getting into trouble at school for hitting other kids.
After being disqualified in two matches, for punching his opponents in the head, he switched to boxing.
“I always knew how to throw a left hook with serious power as my old man used to show me how to throw the shot when he was shadowboxing in the backyard," he says.
"My dad used to always stay in shape and loved boxing training as a way to keep fit.”
Joe says Tony's tough upbringing is a familiar story in the sport.
"All fighters have had hardships,” he explains: “You listen to every story of every fighter on the planet, 99.9 percent of them have suffered hardships.
"If you come from a money background you tend to play tennis, golf or rugby. If you come from humble beginnings, you play football, basketball or you box.
“Most fighters, if not all fighters, come from a humble beginning. They fight their way to a better life.”
Boxing record
Tony enjoyed a decorated amateur career, winning the ABA heavyweight title three times. He finished with a record of 40 wins and seven defeats before turning professional in 2007.
In 2010, he became Commonwealth light-heavyweight champion, but failed in two attempts to win the world title at that weight against Nathan Cleverley and Adonis Stevenson.
He finally became a world champion in 2016 after stepping up to cruiserweight, when he stopped Congolese opponent Ilunga Makabu.
Tony, who is married to Rachael Roberts and dad to three sons Corey, Cobey and Carter, announced his retirement from the sport in 2018 after a defeat against Oleksandr Usyk.
He said: "It's definitely over now, you won't see me in a boxing ring again.
"I just want a normal life, I don't want this pressure.
"I only created the name Tony Bellew to make my dad proud.
"I’ve never been Tony Bellew, I’ve always been Anthony.
"Everyone who truly knows me calls me Anthony.
"Tony Bellew died on Saturday, Anthony Bellew comes back alive. I want reality back."
After hanging up his gloves, he held an impressive record of 30 wins from 34 professional bouts.
He only lost on three occasions and drew once.
Since then, Tony has regularly worked as an analyst and commentator for outlets including DAZN, The Zone and TalkSPORT.
TV career
I’m A Celebrity isn’t Tony’s first screen rodeo.
In fact, he has an impressive Hollywood career after appearing in the Creed films, a spin-off to the famous Rocky movies.
He played boxer Ricky Conlan in the original movie, starring alongside Sylvester Stallone, and returned for Creed III.
Sly later claimed Bellew knocked out co-star Michael B. Jordan "for real" during a bout scene.
Jordan confirmed he took real punches in the scene and said he wasn't "technically knocked out", but added:"I was definitely seeing stars, I was not all there, smelling the canvas and everything. It smelled like Pine-Sol.
"But yeah, I took a real punch, it felt like I was in a car accident for four days afterwards."
In 2020 he also took on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, making it to the final of the reality series.
So he’ll have no problem being on camera, says Joe.
"He’s got a good presence onscreen. He looks the part and he can act.”
I’m A Celebrity stint
Now, as he gets stuck into jungle life, could he add Jungle King to his long list of titles?
“I hope he wins the show,” Joe says.
“He’ll be very entertaining in there because his stories of growing up and stories of boxing are compelling.
“He’s a former world champion, and if anyone deserves a break in a TV career it's him because he sacrificed so much in becoming a world champion.
“People think it’s easy but in this sport you have to make sacrifices. You have to be away from your family, then there's the diet, the torturous training. It made Tony tough mentally as well as physically and it will help him to overcome the obstacles in the jungle.
“He has sacrificed so much and the rewards are coming now for him by breaking into TV. I’m delighted for him.
“I hope he gets all the rewards he wished for.
“I’ll be watching to see how my friend gets on and cheer him on.”
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