Tony Bellew is a retired professional boxer and champion. He is one of Britain’s most popular and revered boxers, and is one of the best boxers to come out of England.
Net worth and earnings
Bellew’s life as a professional boxer meant his net worth was way higher than the average Joe. As of the year 2021, Bellew’s net worth is estimated to be around £9.6 million. That amounts to $13 million.
Bellew has revealed that during his rookie days, he had little money. He got paid a paltry £100 to spar with a boxer during the early days of his professional career. Just see how much he earns through a fight now.
His star grew over the years, and his hard work paid off. Fast forward to 2017, and Bellew had agreed to an astronomical purse of £2.8 million to take on Haye in a match. This amount also included a portion of the revenue generated from the pay-per-view.
When he agreed to fight in a rematch with Haye, he received a similar purse. By then, his aura was such that fans tuned in because of his star power. This match saw him take home the aforementioned purse, but with a larger bit of the pay-per-view cake. Indeed, the match saw over 800,000 buys, the same as Bellew’s final fight against Usyk. It has been reported by multiple sources that Bellew made a career-high £4 million to face Usyk.
The Independent had Bellew’s net worth pegged at around £15 million before his final fight against Usyk. This dropped to the aforementioned £9.6 million after his retirement from boxing.
After his retirement, Bellew became a boxing analyst for Sky Sports, and gives his thoughts and analyses of boxing matches for the media house.
Outside boxing, Bellew also dabbled in the movie biz. He played ‘Pretty’ Ricky Conlan in the movie Creed, which was the seventh film in the popular Rocky franchise. He also featured in the second series of the British show Celebrity SAS, which was hosted by Ant Middleton in 2020.
Outside of the sport, Bellew played ‘Pretty’ Ricky Conlan in Creed – the seventh film in the Rocky franchise and featured in the second series of UK show Celebrity SAS – hosted by Ant Middleton in 2020.
Personal life
Tony Bellew was born Anthony Bellew on 30 November, 1982. He was born in Liverpool, England. He lives in Lancashire with his wife Rachael and their three children.
Bellew married his childhood sweetheart Rachael Roberts. He knew her since the age of nine. The couple have three sons named Corey, Cobey and Carter. They were married at Peckforton Castle in 2018.
The couple share an intense relationship, with Rachael even threatening Bellew with divorce if he did not retire after fighting Usyk. Bellew also shared a great relationship with Racheal’s brother and his brother-in-law, the late Ashley Roberts. Ashley tragically died while on holiday in Mexico. He was just 32 when he passed away. After beating Haye, an emotional Bellew addressed Ashley’s death, and paid tribute to his dear and departed brother-in-law.
“I just want to say I lost my brother-in-law in August, and I swear to God he was watching over me, and he was there with me tonight for every punch. Ashley, that was for you. I miss him so much,” Bellew said after the fight, visibly in tears.
Outside of boxing, Bellew is a diehard supporter of his local football team Everton FC. He attends the Toffees’ games, and is one of their most prominent fans. He has famously been paraded on the pitch during half-time in a home game at Goodison Park. Moreover, he also wanted to be a footballer for Everton before deciding and settling on boxing as his choice of career.
His ties with Everton do not end there, as he always used to enter the ring to the same song the Merseyside Blue enter Goodison Park. It was the theme song from Z-Cars that was his entry music.
Boxing achievements and legacy
Bellew was a three-time ABA Heavyweight Champion as an amateur. He began boxing professionally in 2007, with Jamie Ambler being his first opponent. He defeated Ambler within two rounds, and beat Wayne Brooks and Adam Wilcox next.
Bellew embarked on a lengthy winning streak in 2008, beating multiple boxers. He had a running streak of 12 victories, and beat some prominent names to get there.
The highlight of Bellew’s illustrious career came in May 2016. That year, he famously won the WDC Cruiserweight title. He defeated Ilunga Makabu in front of a rowdy local crowd in Liverpool to win the championship. He won the title via referee stoppage in the third round, finally accomplishing his dream of being world champion. It established him as a world class boxer, and fans and analysts were unanimous in their approval of his heart and courage in the boxing ring.
Bellew’s final fight came against the formidable Usyk. He was carrying a ton of momentum, and the challenge from Bellew seemed like the perfect test for him. It was Bellew’s final appearance in a boxing ring, and he vowed to bow out by beating one of the best at the time in Usyk.
However, despite his bright start, his opponent proved too much for Bellew. The Ukrainian was like a chess grandmaster, who calculated and analysed every move and punch. He took the brunt of Bellew’s offense in the first half of the fight, and then pounced on the exhausted Englishman.
Eight rounds into the bout, Usyk landed a great right jab. He then followed it up with a looping left hook that dropped Bellew. The referee started the count, but Bellew never got up. That was it, and the curtains drew on a remarkable career.
Indeed, throughout his boxing career, Bellew’s win-to-loss ratio was a staggering 10:1. He won 30 fights and lost just thrice in his career. Those losses were against Nathan Cleverly in 2011, Adonis Stevenson in 2013 and the aforementioned Usyk in his final fight.
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