Tony Bellew is hinting at a ring return, telling Talksport he would “absolutely pulverise” WBC bridgerweight champion Lukasz Rozanski. Admitting he couldn’t fight at cruiserweight these days, ‘Bomber’ reckons he could make the unpopular 224-pound bridgerweight mark. Bellew said “seeing a set of abs that I hadn’t seen in the best part of a decade” while training for his role in Creed 3 put the idea of another fight in his head.
Whether Bellew’s return happens or not is another matter. It’s one thing getting in movie shape and quite another being sharp enough athletically for a prizefight. At the age of 40 and having not fought since a 2018 knockout loss to Oleksandr Usyk, the comeback feels ill-advised from the get-go. Say what you will about the merits of Rozanski and his belt, but the Pole is unbeaten and has knocked out 14 of his 15 opponents.
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Is he better than a prime Bellew? Doubtful. Rozanski has only fought a scheduled 12-rounder once and that ended via first round knockout when he stopped Alen Babic. He is thoroughly untested at genuine world level. But can Bellew, who has spent so long away, really claim to be capable of operating at world level these days?
Perhaps there are clues to be found in the plights of other British boxers who came back from periods of inactivity or outright retirements. It feels appropriate to start with a fighter Bellew knows well, former opponent David Haye.
‘Hayemaker’ had always promised to retire at the age of 31, citing a desire to get out of boxing with his health intact. Despite his initial plan to unify the crown before this date not going to plan, Haye was as good as his word. At least at first. The former unified cruiserweight king lost his WBA heavyweight championship to Wladimir Klitschko and retired in the aftermath. Haye said he would only consider returning to the ring for a fight with Wladimir’s brother, WBC champion Vitali Klitschko.
He was half right. Haye did return to the ring, but it was in a fifth-round stoppage win over Derek Chisora a year after the Klitschko defeat. Goaded into the bout due to an altercation after Chisora’s loss to Vitali in a WBC title challenge, Haye reneged on his earlier promise. He wouldn’t fight again for four years after beating ‘Del Boy’, due to a series of injuries that would blight his comeback.
After racking up a pair of quick knockout victories, these injuries would play a big role in his two-fight series with our subject, Tony Bellew. Haye’s achilles tendon giving out in their first fight tipped the balance, with the Liverpudlian stopping him in the 11th round. The rematch should never have happened, with Haye’s ankle giving away in the third round and leading to a fifth-round TKO as Bellew knocked him down three times. Haye would retire for good after the two-fight series, only reemerging for an exhibition bout with friend Joe Fournier.
Another world champion from Britain’s past attempted a comeback in 2012, after three years out of the ring. Ricky Hatton’s two-round destruction at the hands of Manny Pacquiao in 2009 sent him into both retirement and a personal spiral. Substance abuse issues and depression blighted his life away from the ring and ‘The Hitman’ resolved to come back to the sport in order to refocus his mind.
While the comeback did wonders for him physically, with the two-weight world champion getting into outstanding shape, it didn’t pan out between the ropes. The old magic was gone as he took on the tough former world champion Vyacheslav Senchenko at his old Manchester Arena haunt. Broken down and stopped in nine savage rounds, Hatton would go back into retirement as quickly as he had emerged from it. Now thankfully in a happier place, Hatton trains fighters and supports his son Campbell in his own ring endeavours. Like Haye, Hatton has also been back for an exhibition. He contested a fun, unscored bout with Marco Antonio Barrera back at the Manchester Arena last November.
Not every Brit who has traded their pipe and slippers for a pair of boxing gloves has come up short though. Tyson Fury walked away from the sport due to mental health issues in 2017, while still reigning as heavyweight champion after beating WBA, WBO, IBF and The Ring Champion Wladimir Klitschko. ‘The Gypsy King’ relinquished the last of his belts and stepped away from the sport, having not fought since 2015.
Fury would return better than ever in 2018, going 8-0-1 since. The draw arrived in one of the modern era's greatest fights, against WBC champion Deontay Wilder. Fury rose from an almost-certain knockout in the last round to finish stronger. Many felt the Manchester man should have won, and he did in two rematches to claim the WBC and The Ring belts. Their third bout was even better than the first, with both men hitting the deck in a modern classic.
Given Fury’s relative youth and the fact he was in his physical prime upon his return, perhaps Haye and Hatton are a better binary for Bellew. But then every fighter is different. The likes of George Foreman, Henry Maske and Sugar Ray Leonard have returned from lay-offs to pull off unlikely wins in the past. But Bellew must be clear on his motivations and realistic about what his 40-year-old body can do. After all, unlike other sports, boxing is not a game. Father Time waits for no man and he’s brought his gloves.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
