Tony Bellew has launched his latest trade at Jake Paul as he defended himself over questions around what he has done for the sport of boxing.
Bellew has been somewhat involved with Paul’s career over the last couple of weeks, crashing the press conference before the fight with Mike Tyson before slamming the bout.
Paul dominated Iron Mike, who is 31 years his senior, in Texas on Friday night in front of over 70,000 people, winning via unanimous decision and admitting afterwards that he refused to knock out his opponent.
It was a fight that has drawn widespread criticism after Tyson admitted he ‘nearly died’ earlier this year when the fight was postponed, and Bellew was no different as he took an elderly gentleman to the press conference to joke that he was Paul’s next opponent, and insisting that he wouldn’t need to train to beat the influencer-turned-boxer.
That triggered criticism from promoter and co-founder of Paul’s MVP promotion, Nakisa Bidarian, who questioned what Bellew has ‘done for the sport’ that he is a former world champion in.
But Bellew was pulling no punches when he took to social media to hit back, explaining his side of things and getting involved in a bit of a debate with Bidarian.
‘Ok so let’s just address this now!, Bellew began. ‘I’ve raised numerous amounts of money for amateur boxing clubs on a daily basis!
‘I’ve managed numerous fighters and have never taken a single penny off any of them! I’ve constantly supported the ladies in the sport and pushed for them on numerous occasions so mate you obviously haven’t a clue about me or what I do! Oh and finally I’ve never ever exposed a grandfather who is also an icon of my sport to the kind of stuff your man has!
‘Let’s all be honest he has no real care for boxers or boxing cos if he did he wouldn’t be attacking the legends of the sport he would attack the current crop! I’ve never once called him out and I don’t need to clout chase.. I quite simply pointed out that he may as well face a great grandfather next as it’s the logical step.
‘I’d actually support your boy if he wasn’t fighting grandfathers as he does add to the sport when he’s fighting able bodied people.. I hope he chooses to fight someone who can fight back properly next time I really do.. good luck.’
Bellew worked his way up to WBC cruiserweight champion, beating Ilunga Makabu at Goodison Park in 2016 for the belt and eventually stepped up to heavyweight.
He beat David Haye twice in the latter stage of his career, before losing his final fight to Oleksandr Usyk at the same level.
Bidarian, like he did in the original interview, took aim at Bellew’s early career, comparing it to that of Paul, who was having his 12th professional fight last week.
‘Your 12th fight was against a 9-21 fighter who was 2-8 in his last 10 fights – a literal tomato can, who then lost his next 7 fights,’ he said on Instagram. ‘If you won a belt for that then I have nothing else left to say about your view of boxing and Jake’s contributions to the sport at age 27.’
Bellew, though, hit back again, writing: ‘Now please read what I’ve written and just send over an apology.. BTW in my 12th professional fight became a Commonwealth Champion..
‘Don’t forget now and look up what I do for kids in my area and also what we achieved with getting over 100 kids into full time employment and off the streets.’
The Liverpool native remains a potential next opponent for Paul, who has a record of 11-1 from his first 12 professional fights – opponents including fellow influencers and former MMA stars
But who his next opponent will be for sure is yet to be confirmed – and he has even teased a dramatic career change to join brother Logan in WWE.
