Tony Bellew says he is “much closer” to a fight with Andre Ward in comparison to a return bout with David Haye. Bellew shocked Haye back in March, beating him via 11th round stoppage (assisted by Haye’s Achilles injury) and he says he is now ready to cause another, even bigger shock by beating pound-for-pound king Ward.
Speaking with Press Association Sport, Bellew said he is certain he will beat the undefeated Ward should the fight happen.
“I am going to go out some time in December,” Bellew confirmed. “We’ve sat down with Andre Ward’s team, I’ve sat down with Joseph Parker and his team, and I leave Eddie [Hearn] to deal with the other fella from London [Haye]. David is an amazing fighter, athlete and sportsman – when it comes to business he’s an absolute moron…..well, it’s not even him, it’s people his side. I’m further away than ever with the Haye fight. I’m a lot closer now to the Andre Ward fight than I ever have been before. He’s pound-for-pound number-one in the world, so they say. I believe I’m just too strong for him, too big for him. I will walk through him like a train. He will not be able to hold me off.”
If Bellew managed to land himself a fight with Ward, that in itself would be something of a shock; but if Bellew were to win it, he would have pulled off the biggest sensation of his entire career. Whether it occurred at cruiserweight, at heavyweight or somewhere in-between, a Bellew win over Ward would be a real stunner. But as he has said a number of times, Bellew is used to causing upsets.
He wasn’t expected to destroy Ilunga Makabu the way he did to capture the WBC cruiserweight belt, and he wasn’t expected to defeat Haye (and Bellew says he doesn’t care if people say he only did so because of Haye’s injury) up at heavyweight. But again, if he can get his hands on a massive fight with Ward and actually win that one, too, “Bomber” will truly be shocking the world.
Would Bellew be a first-ballot Hall of Famer if he had a win over Ward on his resume?