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Former cruiserweight champion Bellew confirms retirement

Former WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew has confirmed his retirement from boxing.

By Opta
Former WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew

London, November 23: Former WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew has confirmed his retirement from boxing.

Bellew, 35, was beaten via an eighth-round knockout against undisputed cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk in Manchester earlier this month.

It meant the popular Liverpudlian was unable to secure a fairytale end to a career that also featured British, Commonwealth and European honours, but he insists there is no way he will be tempted back into the ring.

"Eddie [Hearn] gets 100million together for me and offers me one more fight, what do I say? 'Wow, wow,' that is probably what I would say. 'Wow, wow' and then walk into the missus and say 'Eddie has come on board with 100million' and she would probably hand me divorce papers," Bellew said on bomberbellew.co.uk.

"Money is good but money comes and goes, that is the best way of saying it."

Bellew concludes his professional career with a record of 30 victories, three defeats and a solitary draw, with 20 of his wins coming by KO.

A three-time ABA heavyweight champion in the amateur ranks, he turned professional at light-heavyweight, picking up the British and Commonwealth belts before a first world title tilt ended in a majority-decision loss to bitter rival Nathan Cleverly in October 2011.

An attempt to dethrone the WBC's 175lbs champion Adonis Stevenson ended in a sixth-round stoppage defeat two years later as battles to make weight took their toll on Bellew.

He was rejuvenated at cruiserweight, outlasting Mateusz Masternak for a points win and the European title in December 2015.

Six months on, fanatical Everton fan Bellew reached the pinnacle, blasting past Ilunga Makabu in three rounds at the Premier League club's Goodison Park ground to become a world champion at the third time of asking.

He defended his crown once, making similarly short work of an over-matched BJ Flores to set up a money-spinning rivalry with David Haye. Bellew prevailed in each of his two contests with the former WBA heavyweight ruler and now joins his compatriot on the other side of the ropes.

Story first published: Friday, November 23, 2018, 8:08 [IST]
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