But Bellew has shrugged off the suggestion and has urged his rival to ‘tell him to his face’. Speaking exclusively to Express Sport, he said: “Are you messing or are you being serious? He called me out?
“Someone like him wouldn’t be fit to carry my jock strap. I’m a former world champion mate. I would take his head clean off with one swipe of a left hook and, he would be out like a light. So, yeah, I have no intentions of doing that anytime soon, but he can tell me next time he sees me if he wants.”
Reynolds and Bellew got into a heated altercation after Reynolds swiped at Joshua for wrestling Franklin across the ring in a bizarre post-fight scuffle. Taking exception to Reynolds’s intervention, Bellew began shouting at the cornerman as the pair almost came to blows near the commentary booths.
A week after the incident, Reynolds, a two-time national golden gloves champion and former undefeated professional boxer (15-0), extended a challenge to Bellew to settle their score, telling Express Sport: “If Tony Belly, and make sure you say, I call him Tony Belly. If he knows where the gym is at, and he’s willing to sign for this exhibition then let’s do it.
“And like I said, 50 per cent of the money can go to cancer. We would love to take that, and we can handle our differences in the ring and then after the exhibition, we can drink some tea. But definitely, we have a disagreement and like, gentlemen, let’s handle it the right way in the boxing ring. We can do it that way because evidently, there’s some smoke that needs to be cleared.”
However, Bellew doesn’t seem particularly interested in the proposition and insists it is unlikely he will ever step foot in the ring again.
When asked whether there are any fights that could tempt him out of retirement, Bellew replied: “I’m not gonna be foolish enough to say no because everyone’s got a price at the end of the day. There are people who are quite big in the industry who know my price and have heard my price and stay well away from it.
“So, I would say for now, I’m happily retired, but like I just said before, mate, everyone’s got a price. So, let’s just see where it goes. I doubt very much it goes anywhere. And I think I remain on a golf course getting fat.”
Tony Bellew joined Three UK and Chelsea Football Club to take part in the ConnectWith Series. You can watch it on YouTube here
