Tony Bellew is a known British pro boxer, who is also known for his acting role in 2015 sports drama called “Creed”. He goes by the nickname Bomber because of his massive punch.
Early life:
Tony was born as Anthony Bellew on November 30, 1982 in Liverpool in England. His mother is black so he is biracial. His ancestry is mixed: African and American-Indian from his mother’s side, and Irish from his father’s family.
He spent all of his childhood time in Liverpool and he is in love with that city.
Career development:
He started boxing for ABA (Amateur Boxing Association) and he was twenty years old when he got his first ABA title. He gained it again in 2003. In that period he knocked out all his oponents but one.
He changed his weight class into heavyweight and started winning at the Senior Championship.
He debuted as a pro boxer in 2007 and won early in 2nd round when he defeated Jamie Ambler.
In 2008 he defeated all his oponents and recorded 8-0 which is a great score for such a young boxer.
In 2009 he showed even more boxing talent and he came to 12-0 and was unbeaten in his category.
He gained a Commonwealth light heavyweight title twice in 2010.
In 2010 he lost his first match after almost three years. It was against Bob Ajisafe.
In 2011 he was supposed to fight with Nathan Cleverly for WBO light heavyweight title but he failed to make the weight.
In 2012 he won the fight against Roberto Bolonti and won the WBC silver title.
His fight with Adonis Stevenson in 2013 was the 5th most watched on HBO and brought him a lot of atention and earnings.
He won his first WBO International Cruiserweight title in 2014 and successfully defended it against Dos Santos the same year.
In 2014 Bellew won a match against Nathan Cleverly in WBO cruiserweight championship.
In 2015 he gained a victory at the European championship against Mateusz Masternak.
He won his first world title, as a WBC champion, at his hometown Liverpool in a match against Ilunga Makabu who wasn’t defeated since 2008.
His first heavyweight fight was in 2016 against David Haye, a fellow British boxer, Bellew knocked Haye down. He earned a high £4,2 million in this fight.
In 2017 he had a surgery on his hand which he hurt in the fight for Haye. He broke it during the fight.
At the end of the year he was supposed to fight against David Haye but he pulled out of the fight because he has injured his arm.
He has 29 wins throughout his career and only two losses. 19 out of 29 wins were knockouts.
Personal life:
He has three sons but wasn’t married to their mother, his longtime girlfriend Rachael until 2017.
They live in Aughton in Lancashire. They know each other since they were kids. He called her his wife although they weren’t married.
They have three kids together: Corey, Cobey and Carter.
He is a big fan of Everton Football club.
Although he loved to box and found idols in Mike Tyson and Nigel Benn his biggest dream was to play for Everton. He dreamt of pulling on Everton’s shirt and not pulling boxing gloves…but he was too fat for soccer.
He didn’t take boxing seriously at first. His mother didn’t want him to fight because she was worried about his health and his teachers always doubted him because he wasn’t interested in school.
So by night he boxed at Rotunda Gym where he became a national amateur champion three times. By day he worked to raise money for himself.
He worked in security branch, as a bouncer at nightclubs, as a lifeguard, in retail and he even worked in a pillow factory. He didn’t choose work, he just wanted to find smething to do in order to support himself so he could have time for training and the money for his equipment.
He has a younger brother named Liam who is a homosexual and who got married to his husband.
He first started fighting for fun, in Dock rings and wasn’t serious about it in the start.
He owns only one car, a Mercedes Benz GLE. After one journalist asked him why he isn’t interested in cars like other famous boxers (since he has a lot of money) but he just stated that his earnings are ment for his kids and not for his luxurious lifestyle. He said that it was something his wife learned him.
His favorite place for training is the Rotunda Gym in Liverpool. Matchroom Sport is his promotion agency.
In an episode of “League of their Own” on SKY 1, it was revealed that Tony has a fear of heights after he was tasked in a challenge taking him 30 feet into the air.
His nickname Bomber comes from his hard and agressive power punch and it is no wonder that he won almost all of his matches by knockouts.
His wife pleaded him not to fight against David Haye in spring if 2017 because she feared he will get hurt.
Before their next fight she was even under more stress because he was going to fight a little after his brother-in-law called Ashley Roberts, who is a father of two kids, suddenly died in August, aged just 32.
Bellew spent more than three months filming the movie “Creed” in Philadelphia with Sylvester Stallone. He was excited because of working with Sly who was still a legend and who was in great physical shape during the filming although he was 68 years old.
He acted as “Pretty” Rick Conlan in 2015 sports movie Creed where he had to show his talent in more ways than one.
He was invited by him, MGM and the director Ryan Coogler to take the role of a boxing champion in the seventh part of Rocky franchise. He was thrilled to act in this kind of movie.
Quick summary
Full name: Anthony Bellew
Date of birth: November 30, 1982
Birthplace: Liverpool, England
Age: 36
Profession: professional boxer
Height: 1,89 m
Weight: 97kgs
Net Worth: $7 million
