Tony Bellew is ready to lace up the gloves again, but only for the right price. The former WBC cruiserweight champion says he'd "absolutely" come out of retirement to fight Jake Paul, despite being away from the ring for over six years.
Bellew's last professional bout was in November 2018 when he faced Oleksandr Usyk, who was the undisputed cruiserweight champion at the time. The fight ended with Bellew suffering an 8th round knockout defeat. It was his 34th and final professional fight, capping off a career that included winning the WBC cruiserweight title by knocking out Ilunga Makabu and back-to-back stoppage wins over David Haye at heavyweight.
In a recent interview with First Round TV, Bellew made it clear that while he doesn't want to fight, he'd do it for the right amount of money.
"Of course I would. Why wouldn't I? Do I want to fight him? No. But would I fight him? Absolutely. I don't want to though. I don't want to go back to a training camp. I don't need it. I don't need the headaches, stress and pressure. I don't need my Mrs going on to me, but if someone wants to cough up the price [I will], because I've got a price, we've all got a price."
The potential opponent Bellew mentions is Jake Paul, the YouTuber-turned-boxer who's been making waves in the boxing world. Paul's most recent fight was a controversial bout against Mike Tyson in November, which he won by unanimous decision. It was Tyson's first professional competition since 2005, and the eight-round bout stirred up quite a bit of controversy.
Bellew and Paul have already had a taste of confrontation. During the fight week of Paul vs Tyson, Bellew was in attendance and got involved in a back-and-forth with the American boxer.
As it stands, a fight between Bellew and Paul seems highly unlikely. Paul is currently on the hunt for his next opponent, and Bellew has been out of the game for a long time. But in the world of boxing, you can never say never. If the price is right, we might just see Bellew step into the ring one more time.
