Interviews Executive
In an exclusive interview with PokerScout, Tony Bellew weighed in on a rumoured bout between Oleksandr Usyk and Deontay Wilder. He also commented on Tyson Fury’s latest retirement u-turn and much more.
PokerScout: Let’s talk about the recent boxing. Dalton Smith was the underdog against Subriel Matias but came out on top with a stunning knockout victory. You weren’t surprised were you?
Tony Bellew: No I wasn’t, I’m a big fan of Dalton Smith. I’ve known of his qualities for quite some time now. He turned professional alongside a lad I was looking after Thomas Whittaker Hart, they were both part of the GB setup. Dalton Smith is a really, really good fighter. Very well-rounded. Technically outstanding. He has power in neither hand. He’s not one big punch knockout artist, but he has considerable amounts of power. Nobody in the world is gonna walk through Dalton Smith and that’s one of his greatest assets. After that, I think of all of his assets, of which he has a number of them, I think his greatest asset is his timing. He’s not the quickest. He’s not the strongest, he’s not the sharpest, but timing is perfect. He takes his opportunities. He doesn’t second guess himself. He doesn’t question himself when he’s up close. He’s willing to throw, he’s willing to trade, and we’ve seen Subriel Matias get beat before by Liam Paro, but we’ve not seen him get beaten up and roughed up like this and Dalton Smith showed a number of things in the fight. He showed that he can come through a cut. He showed that he can come through fights against serious punches, world renowned punches. And that he can do it now at the highest level. And I think that just makes Dalton Smith an unbelievably hard person to beat him. Because I don’t really see any weaknesses in Dalton Smith. The only weakness that I would say if I was fighting Dalton Smith. I would say you’ve got to see him in a crazy paced fight. One of them wars that lasted 12 rounds and it’s nonstop back and forth. But as said before, he dictates the pace, because his timing is so good and that’s what people fail to realize and recognize. This is why nobody can push him out of his comfort zone. Because every time you want to step into his zone, or anytime you want to step into a space, the timing allows him to nail you on the way in or on the way out. And he’s so patient with really good defense.
So I’ve always been impressed with Dalton. I spoke to Ed on the day of the fight and the day before actually. And he said it was a genuine 50-50 fight. I told him Dalton Smith is a far better boxer than Liam Paro and he will show it. You have got to understand that when he goes into a world title fight of that kind of magnitude, WBC, the green and gold belt is the belt that all of the major fighters dream of holding. It’s the one that lies amongst the likes of Sugar Ray, Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather. All these legendary, great fighters, we saw them holding that green and gold belt. And Dalton said he’d looked at that belt over the years and looked at the icons who held it and it really was a dream come true for him on Saturday night.
PokerScout: Do you think being the away fighter, it made Dalton look to be more dynamic and get the job done early instead of letting the judges decide the fight?
Tony Bellew: I don’t even think he goes in looking for the knockouts. I just think he wants to put a show on and find out what’s in his heart. And I listened to some of the comments before the fight on what Subriel Matias said and he said ‘I’m going to draw the b*tch out of you’. I think some of Dalton’s fans who were there were goading Matias and he didn’t like it. And I think Dalton’s gone out there with a point to prove saying ‘you are not going to take me to any kind of place that I haven’t been before’. Then the way he adjusted from the first bell, right into that fifth round, he was just phenomenal.It was a faultless display and I thought he was exceptional on the night with a brilliant game plan. Him and his father, Grant Smith, I give them so much credit. Because Grant Smith’s been his trainer from a child all the way up. And I’ve seen Dalton Smith go to various places to learn off different coaches and do different techniques at different times. And it lets me know that Grant Smith is very comfortable in his own skin. A lot of coaches are pretentious and if they see their fighter doing stuff with other trainers, going somewhere and learning bits from other coaches, because not one coach knows it all. So if you can allow your fighters to go around to the gyms and experiment and learn little bits from other people, then I think that’s a fantastic strength to have as a coach because coaches can be possessive and protective at times and they think it’s their way or no other way? And they have to understand that a fighter gets one opportunity and one chance. And if one coach doesn’t know everything, that means at some stage he has to move. But what Grant Smith has allowed Dalton to do is learn in other places, learn from other coaches, bring in other coaches in at times.
And I think that’s a good strength to have. And I give Grant Smith and Dalton Smith all the credit in the world. It’s a fantastic partnership, one that works. I don’t know how his father and son cope together so much, I think it can be very difficult. I’ve worked alongside my father a number of times, so I give them all the credit in the world and they’ve got what they deserve. And Grant Smith is a fantastic coach. This is the guy who made Sunny Edwards what he is, got him to World Title Challenger and world champion and he’s done the same with his son, so fair play to them, I wish them the very best going forward.
PokerScout: Adam Azim is kind of waiting in the wings for a fight now. Do you think he’ll face off with Dalton Smith? It’s a British fight which will surely sell…
Tony Bellew: One thing that I think it does prove is it was right to wait. So everyone questions whether they should wait or not. I think the right thing now is to wait. Let this be a unification match. Let Adam Azim win a world title and then bring them together for a huge unification. I think it’ll be a fascinating match. I think Adam Azim reminds me of Amir Khan. Simply for the speed of his hands. Amir Khan has the fastest hands I’ve ever seen and witnessed. He’s got the fastest hands that Britain’s ever seen. I think the only person that can compare with one punch shot speed is Floyd Mayweather, I’ve never seen speed like Amir Khan, it’s rapid and incredible. He can throw a 10 punch combination in the space of a second and a half, two seconds. The only other person that I can see who comes close to as Ryan Garcia when it comes to out and out hand speed. So I think when you talk about that hand speed and Dalton Smith’s timing, it very much reminds me of the fight pattern between Shane Mosley and Vernon Forrest. And timing beats speed, only if it’s used correctly, but I think Adam Azim has got a very smart trainer in Shane McGuigan. As I said before, I think Dalton Smith’s got a very good coach in Grant Smith.
So it could be a battle of the game plans. It could be a battle of who wants it more. I don’t know. But that fight fascinates me. Based on form and based on victories and who’s done what, I would edge towards Dalton Smith. But that’s quite obvious. Everyone leads towards Dalton Smith right now and the bookies would after that superb win over Subriel Matias.
PokerScout: With Dalton Smith joining the ranks of current British champions, world champions, which Brit do you think will win a belt by the end of the year?
Tony Bellew: I would say Callum Smith but the light heavyweight titles seem to be a bit trapped at the minute. Outside of that we’ve got a number of good fighters on the peripheral. I mean, we’ve recently made one in Jazza Dickens. He would’ve been me first pick had he not been done. He’s had an amazing career. He’s done unbelievably well to turn the ground the way he has. Who do I think is the next world champion from the UK though? It’s too soon for Moses Itauma. I don’t think the belts are tied up. I mean if Moses goes out there and beats someone like…is anyone even classing Murat Gassiev as a world champion? No. But Itauma would wipe the floor with Gassiev if they fought tomorrow.
PokerScout: It sounds like Tyson Fury is eyeing up Gasiev as a way of getting himself back into the picture and getting a belt, and then maybe looking to challenge Usyk after that…
Tony Bellew: Potentially, but then Usyk has the real belt. So the only other world champion I can give credit to and credit as a world champion in the division apart from obviously Usyk is Wardley because he went out there, he’d done a job with Joseph Parker against all the odds. And he’s done job and job again on undefeated fighters and fighters who were ahead of him in the rankings? I’m still trying to think of an answer to your question. I think Hamzah Sheeraz is a good shout, I can see him winning one. You’ve got Nick Ball as well to think about.
PokerScout: So today’s disappointing news is that the Moses Itauma vs Jermaine Franklin fight has been postponed until early March due to an injury to Moses. When the fight eventually comes around, how do you see it playing out?
Tony Bellew: Jermaine Franklin is a very durable fighter. He’s never been stopped. The question is whether Moses Itauma can be the first man to do it. I think it all depends on Moses. If he goes out there wanting rounds, he’ll get them. Franklin is exactly the kind of fighter who can give you rounds. But if Moses wants to go out there and make a statement – put his name in lights and say, “I want to knock this guy out” – then I think he can stop him. Franklin is a good, competent fighter. Very tough, very sound defensively. He’s not the biggest puncher and doesn’t really fight with an aggressive intent to win. It’s usually a lot of spoiling, grinding, and the odd counter here and there. But he does a job for fighters who’ve been knocking people out – he’s the guy you go to when you want rounds. So again, it depends on Moses. If he wants rounds, he’ll get them. If he doesn’t, I think he stops him around five or six rounds. Probably a mercy stoppage. I don’t see Franklin being knocked out cold or put on the floor, but I do see Moses peppering him, stunning him, and the referee eventually stepping in.
PokerScout: Tyson Fury has now announced that his latest retirement has been reversed – possibly the fifth or sixth time he’s done that now!
Tony Bellew: No one’s surprised, but I’m happy to see him back. The most important thing is that Tyson is boxing and seems happy. When he’s in a boxing gym, he looks in a good place mentally. That’s what matters. He can retire 20 times and come back 26 times for all I care. Seeing him active is good for boxing. He creates headlines, says controversial things – but he can fight. There’s no doubt about that.
PokerScout: Who do you think he’ll be looking at as a comeback opponent?
Tony Bellew: That’s the question. Surely he won’t take too much of a risk straight away. Maybe someone to get the ring rust off before looking at AJ in the future. I saw a list of possible opponents the other day – Agit Kabayel was mentioned, Fabio Wardley, maybe Jarrell Miller, Andy Ruiz, and Filip Hrgović. Out of those, Kabayel and Wardley would be dangerous fights. Kabayel looked very good recently. He’s surprised me. I don’t understand why he hasn’t had a world title shot yet, but no one really wants to fight him. He’s a dark horse – constant body work, high work rate, good chin. From a managerial point of view, you’d say, “Why do we need that risk?” He seems to have found a home in Germany now, with big crowds and a strong following. But he needs tougher tests going forward.
PokerScout: Daniel Dubois vs Fabio Wardley – does that feel like a natural fight to make?
Tony Bellew: I don’t think Fabio would shy away from anyone. He’s been written off so many times and been the underdog on so many occasions. Now he’s the champion, and he’s risen above what anyone expected. I’ve written him off myself. I thought he’d lose to Justis Huni – he was well behind on points and then landed that right hand. I thought Joseph Parker would know too much for him, and he did… until he didn’t. That belief you have when you’re undefeated is powerful. It doesn’t go away until you lose. No matter what’s happening in the fight, you believe you can win. Fabio could be losing 11 rounds and still believe he can knock you out in the 12th with 10 seconds to go and he’s shown that time and again. That’s why he’s one of the most dangerous heavyweights around.
PokerScout: David Haye recently named his top five heavyweights of all time and didn’t include Mike Tyson. His reasoning was that Tyson never came back from losing on the cards to win a fight.
Tony Bellew: I understand David’s point, but Mike Tyson’s prime was so short-lived and in that prime, he was one of the most complete fighting machines I’ve ever seen. The speed, power, head movement, coordination – it was unbelievable. I don’t judge mentality because we don’t know what fighters are dealing with outside the ring. What I can judge is attributes, and prime Mike Tyson had everything. For me, Lennox Lewis is possibly the greatest heavyweight ever. Prime Lennox vs prime Tyson would have been some fight. Lennox had everything – especially his boxing brain. His only flaw was sometimes being too patient, but he learned from his losses and corrected them. He’s one of the few heavyweights who avenged every defeat. When you talk about top five heavyweights of all time, for me it’s Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, Joe Frazier, and probably George Foreman. I might put Oleksandr Usyk in there ahead of Frazier. People won’t like that, but look at his body of work. He’s beaten men almost twice his size, come up from cruiserweight, and cleaned out the heavyweight division. You can call this era weak if you want, but Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua – those guys would compete in any era. And Usyk has beaten them.
PokerScout: What do you make of this potential fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Deontay Wilder?
Tony Bellew: I personally don’t like it because I think Deontay Wilder is damaged goods. I understand the reason for it. He was avoiding him for many years, Deontay Wilder, but you have to understand he’s now been defeated and beaten off by far lesser fighters. I just think his time is overspent in boxing. Don’t get me wrong, I do still think he’s the single biggest puncher in the world right now. I do still think he’s got the biggest punch in the heavyweight division, but he lacks belief in himself. As a human being he’s a great fella. But as a fighter, I don’t believe that hunger and desire is still there. And it’s so hard to get that back. It doesn’t matter. Money does not incentivize or make the odds better. It ain’t about money, it’s about legacy. Make no mistake, he’s always been a one-trick-pony. But it’s a f*cking hell of a trick. You just wake up, you don’t know what’s happening. You just wake up. Could he land that on Oleksandr Usyk? Yes. Do I think he will? Absolutely not. But it is a hell of a trick.
PokerScout: Does Jake Paul get any credit for surviving as long as he did?
Tony Bellew: Yes. He’s got a lot of credit. Absolutely. He got in there with Anthonuy Joshua, of course he gets credit. I give him all the credit in the world. Don’t get me wrong, he’s been very well paid for doing it. Was it a circus? Absolutely. But I give him all the credit in the world. I never thought he’d actually do it. I’m the first to hold my hands up and say well done. Good on you. Just try fighting someone at your level, because my greatest worry was that he got really hurt. Some will say, he did get hurt, he broke his jaw. It could have been far worse. Could have been far worse.
I think Joshua went in, fiddled with him, played with him. I mean, when you see the shot that finishes him, it’s the jab to the chest that he doesn’t even anticipate or see, he’s just constantly looking at Joshusa’s right hand and his hands are low. He’s constantly thinking, just stay away from that right hand, stay away from that right hand. And he doesn’t realize what the jab to the chest has put him in a place where he can’t get away from the right hand. So instead of thinking just about this… You’d better watch this, ’cause this is what sets this up, right? And as he jabs the chest, it knocks him into this position. If he’d have stayed completely side on and kept coming away anticlockwise, he wouldn’t have been caught by that jab. It would’ve just scraped up the shoulder. But by being in this position and on the ropes, they jab knocks you and squares you up. And the minute he gets squared up, Joshua leans in, and bam! Listen, I’d give him so much credit. He got knocked down, I didn’t like the fact he was holding onto his legs and going down every couple of minutes, and he tried to claim a bit of a dodgy knee at one stage. I’m just happy he did man up. He took his punishment like a man. And he took the beating. I can’t give him anything but credit. And as for Anthony Joshua, he did what every other fighter in the world would do. All of these fighters, coming out and winging. Every one of you would do it for a quarter of what he did it for. Every one of you would do it for a 10th of what he did it for. Nevermind the actual amount, a 10th of what he’s done for, you’d do it for, so please just stop labeling them. Stop. You’d have bit their hand off for the chance, all day and twice on a Sunday.
PokerScout: I was watching a few clips of yourself on S.A.S. Who Dares Wins, you said you’d never write a book – I wondered whether you’d changed your stance on that in the years since then?
Tony Bellew: I’ve done a book, but it wasn’t an autobiography. It was basically talking about how I got through boxing. Would I do a book now? Personally, I’ve lived a bit more and I’ve seen a lot more, and I think if I was to do a book, yes, it’d be something personal to me. I think I can relate a lot more now to retirement and finishing boxing and the place that you’re in and how difficult it can be. One day you are a fighter and you wake up on Monday morning and you’re not. That’s hard. That’s hard to process. That’s hard to do. And how I’ve managed to get through and still struggle to figure out what you’re doing, what your purpose is in life. It’s hard, but I think I’m in a better place now to give a bit more advice on it and figure things out. Potentially. The one that got written, I didn’t even get to pick the name. The publisher picked the name, Everyone’s Got A Plan Until You Get Punched In The Face. To be honest, it’s not even mine. Mike Tyson borrowed the phrase, I borrowed the phrase, but we all borrowed off the Great Brown Bomber, Joe Louis. So, there’s a book out there, but it’s not a biography by me about my life. No, it’s more of the struggles I faced in boxing, how I got through them, and that’s it. But there’s a lot more life than boxing.
PokerScout: Quick mention for Andy Cruz, who’s fighting on January 24th against Raymond Muratalla. How far can he go?
Tony Bellew: The Cuban is sensational. I think I’ve seen the best Cuban in the last few decades in Yuriorkis Gamboa, and he’s the best one I’ve seen. But Andy Cruz, I think he might have the discipline that Gamboa lacks, and I think that might be the difference. I think Andy Cruz will be the next world champion that we’ll see. I think he’ll win that fight. He’s exceptional, there’s nothing he can’t do. Skillful, slick, got enough power to keep you off. Similar to Dalton Smith, the timing is his key. He’s very, very good. Other fighters fighting for the world titles, we’ve got Josh Kelly against Murtazaliev. Not sure how you pronounce it but I’ll work it out by next Saturday. So there’s really good fights. Future world champions, Pat Brown is one that I think will win a world title. I think at cruiserweight, he’s a force. And he’s not getting any younger. He’s had a very extensive amateur career. He’s got two fantastic trainers in Jamie Morgan and Andrew Travis, a good manager in Sam Jones. They know the route they want to take and he’s persistent. He’s active and he’s busy. They’re ticking off things that tick off in the right way. Josh Kelly’s going up soon for the world title fight on the 31st of January, which I’m working in Newcastle. That’s a really hard fight he’s got, but it’s a really good fight. The prospects for our British flights look really good, and Matchroom could have a number of world champions. As I said, at the moment we’ve got quite a few but I think there’ll be more on the roster by the time we get to summer. And you’ve gotta look at Dalton Smith now, already got Boots Ennis, there’s a number of fighters and they’re flying.
PokerScout: Did you catch Andrew Tate’s boxing match against Chase DeMoor?
Tony Bellew: I’ve seen a clip on social media. He’s just not a boxer, is he? It wasn’t the greatest watch, but as for Tate, you can’t knock him. He’s driving such a big platform. And he’s obviously a big name and all I ever hear him talk about is his money. I think he said he’s a billionaire the other day. So for the life of me, he can’t understand why if he was a billionaire, he would get punched down. I just don’t get it. It’s quite obvious, he loves to challenge himself. I’ve seen a bit of the fight. But listen, in that Misfits world I think the person to fight in that kind weight class is Darren Till. I’d like to see Demoor fight Till, because Till is a big lump. Outside that, there is one fighter in there that I think can do really good things. And that’s Ty Mitchell. Ty Mitchell has so much ability and so much untapped capability when it comes to how he could actually be the first Misfit’s proper champion. He’s got a lot of ability. The last fight out, he had to go through some difficult moments and as I said to him, figuring your way through a 10 round fight, it’s hard for the first time. So he’s learning with every step that he takes. So yeah, I actually enjoy the Misfit stuff now. I used to think it was a stupid, that it was a joke, but it’s something I do enjoy. They’re growing and creating a bit of a brand. And listen, don’t get me wrong, there’s some silly joke things that’s not for me, but when it comes to actual boxing, I can see them progressing and Darren Till is progressing nicely. Everyone wants to see him fight Froch but that one’s coming along nicely.
PokerScout: Who are the top three biggest knobheads in boxing?
Tony Bellew: I don’t know. You know what? Me, me and me. I get enough stick from Social Media. Your Twitter followers and trolls. I’ve beaten no one. I’m not very good. I’m crap. But can I just say, guys, if I’m that bad, tell me when you see me. I’m not a hard man to find. But as for the others, I don’t really dislike anyone.
PokerScout: What about when you were at, you were angriest back in the day, was there anyone that really got under your skin?
Tony Bellew: Back in the day, yeah, me and Nathan Cleverly just didn’t get on, I was never going to like the bloke but I’ve got nothing bad to say about him actually, I wish him well, I hope he’s doing alright. I just think it’s unfair and unkind to say like that’s the biggest knobhead in boxing, it’s littered with them. What I don’t like is false people and there’s so many false people within the boxing realm I mean, there’s so many people now claiming to be coaches, PTs, boxing is a very crazy sport. It’s the only place in the world where you can go and get yourself a set of pads from taskers or from sports direct, get a pair of pads and then just call yourself a professional boxer. No regulations, no nothing and I’ve seen so many fellows just come out saying, “I’m a professional boxer” and I look at them and I just think, ‘oh my Lord’. When you look at a boxing coach, you look at his body of work, you have to look past that and you have to ask, who taught you, where did you learn, who did you spend time with? Because no matter how much you want to study, I’ve studied boxing for years, there’s only so much you can study. You’ve gotta be around people to learn, put in certain scenarios, certain situations to learn the right thing to do, that’s the wrong thing to do. I’ve seen this done the right way, I’ve seen this done the wrong way and that’s how you build a champion and that’s how you build brilliant coaching, through experience and through knowledge. You can’t just be reading a book and expect that book to tell you everything you’ve gotta do to train a fighter. It’s like the book will say, train this way on Monday, that way on Tuesday, that way Wednesday, give them a day off Thursday, come back Friday. Now every single individual is different, that might work for the guy who we could document it on, but that wouldn’t have worked for me. From the start of my professional boxing career, my training regime was completely different to the end of my boxing career. Now does that suggest which one was right, the first part or the second. Because at the start I could go through anything, I was losing three stone per camp, I was doing an insane three sessions a day training. An unbelievable amount of body weight I was losing, but I was still able to win 12 round fights and I was still at championship level. But my training regime and the way I was doing it was an absolute shit show. I paid no attention to the fine details, I was going into fights with absolutely no game plan and just getting through purely on ability and my instincts. And then when I came back, I addressed things differently, I went back to basically the footwork, stuff like that. Then in the second half of my career, I went to cruiserweight with Dave Coldwell and everything changed. I then didn’t train five days a week, I punched four days a week, I would do hard cardio and strength and conditioning 3 days a week. I know that doesn’t make sense because I still have a day off. So you do seven sessions, there’ll obviously be a day where i’ve been doing two. So I box and do strength and conditioning some days, so there’s more structure to it, the diet was perfect and as different things came into play, my body learnt to cope more and I was training less but getting fitter. That is down to the experience and having a brilliant coach like Dave Coldwell, he understood and knew my body because he’d been a fighter himself. I’m not saying you have to be a fighter to be a good trainer, but it does help because they know what you are going through. They know when you are tired, when you’re not and then he’d gone from the Ingles and then spent time with Adam Booth and David Haye being around that camp. So then he starts training fighters, training Kell Brook, training Ryan Rhodes, training numerous fighters. When I went to Dave Coldwell and said where’s Jamie? He said he wasn’t training fighters any more, he retired from. So I dragged him back out and said I knew he was a brilliant coach, I knew he was a good trainer. We lived and went to the highest of the highs. But it was only because I was in a place where I knew my body better. I was with a coach who understood and knew me. Because once you hit 30 years of age, you’re in decline. Everyone’s got this thing that you’ve gotta be living the absolute perfect life to still be going that way at 30 and unfortunately for me, I didn’t live the perfect life, very few do. Look at professional footballers of today, they’re allowed to go that bit longer, the likes of Mo Salah being whatever age he is, he is gonna keep going like that till he’s about 36, 37. Lives the absolute perfect life. For professional fighters who aren’t living that life, once you live 30, it’s like they stop and it keeps coming down. So you’ve gotta deal with a person who knows your body, understands it. I think I was very fortunate.
PokerScout: There’s been a very up and down season for Everton. There’s been some great wins, some great performances, but also some quite disappointing ones. FA Cup at the weekend being one, three dismal penalties to be honest?
Tony Bellew: Yes, not very good. But you could tell they never practice penalties. but listen, it’s one of them things, I was gutted. I wanted to go on a cup run but things do look up in the league. I think there will be some acquisitions that come in this window.
PokerScout: Ben White has been the rumored player, Arsenal Defender / centre back, right back. Someone you think it would fit in?
Tony Bellew: Fits in perfectly well. You’ve got the likes of Jurrien Timber ahead of you, that kid is a top, top player. And then Arsenal have got cover all over the place. So yeah, that would be a brilliant acquisition. But we’ll see, there’s a number of players who Everton are linked with and I really feel for the lads up top, for Beto and Barry, really good lads, trying their best, trying their hardest, their actual numbers off the ball are very good, they’re doing everything off the ball that they need do, especially Barry. He works hard, he puts a shift in, he gets stuck in, he wins so many headers for flick ons and nod ons, but there’s just no one else there to knock them on to. And then ultimately, when he gets in front of the goal, I don’t care what anyone says, the greatest asset a striker can have is his confidence. If he’s got confidence, he will slot it, he will be in front of goal, he will slow it down and he will either dink it over the keeper or he will go round the keeper. But at the minute, these two have got no confidence in front of goal and are snapping at everything. It’s just a quick snap fire shot or their rushing the efforts that they’re getting and I really feel for them. I mean even the goal he scored this season, he kicked that into the floor. They’re trying their best, but for Everton this season, I don’t think we’re finishing in the top 10, massive injuries, AFCON is playing a massive part at the moment. We’ve got Iliman Ndiaye who’s playing great football over there, we’ve got Idrissa Gueye away as well. Now we’ve got Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall injured who’s been an instrumental figure this season. The three names I just mentioned, the only person I can think of who’s been on the same level as them three this season, week in week out has been James Garner, James Garner has been absolutely fantastic. He’s been a revelation, all the big clubs are gonna come sniffing, he’s been fantastic. When the gaffer asked him to go right back or to be centre midfield, defensive midfield, he can go anywhere. He just does a great job wherever he goes with every place. Jack Grealish has been fantastic when he’s been asked to perform.
PokerScout: I was gonna say, what do you make of the red card clapping a ref. It’s a bit petulant, isn’t it?
Tony Bellew: It is petulant, he knows he’s made a mistake but at what point are these referees just going to have a little bit of common sense and go, “I booked you once, why are you doing this the next time you do anything, if you fart on this pitch I’m sending you off”. These referees are going onto the pitch and it’s like they want it to be about them. At what point does a guy sitting in a room want to scream a referee over to the TV and go, “he’s pulled his hair”. For f***sake, he jumped up in the air, it looked to me like he was kind of pushing forward, but as he pushed him forward, he pushed and clamped his fists. If he had his hair, he’d get the top and pull his head back, the guy’s head doesn’t come back? He felt a little pull on his neck. Now the lad whose hair he pulled said to him, “I felt a tug on my hair”. He’s not saying should be sent off, it’s a tiny tug, isn’t it? It’s just blown out of proportion and I don’t see how football is gonna correct itself. I mean, the challenge after we received two red cards, the challenge that was made on Harrison Armstrong is on the back of his calf, studs going in the back of his calf, the referee doesn’t even book him. And then after that, the VAR sees it and doesn’t even think to call a referee over to the television, it’s embarrassing. I think VAR is needed in football but I believe that ex-players with no affiliation to clubs before games need to be put on. I think an ex-player needs to be involved and go, right he’s meant that or he hasn’t meant that, even if they’re anonymous, but you need to definitely make sure that we don’t need any Kopites doing an Everton game and we don’t want mancs doing Liverpool games, things like that. Just players who’ve got experience, played the game, I think it would help referees massively and common sense has to be applied, it just has to be applied. If common sense doesn’t get applied, you might as well just get robots. You might as well get robots on the pitch because they’ll keep up with play far more than some.
PokerScout: Paddy the baddy has got a big UFC interim lightweight title, fight a couple of weeks. Justin Gaethje, any words of advice?
Tony Bellew: No words of advice needed, Paddy knows what he’s doing, an exceptional, well-rounded fighter with an exceptional ground game, which is very unheard of in the UK fighters to have. Paddy is the best, has the best ground game of any of the stars that have made it to that level in the UFC from Britain before and that for me is something that we’ve always lacked. We’ve got strikers don’t we, we’ve got Michael Venom Page who is probably one of the best strikers in the whole of the UFC, Leon Edwards, unbelievable knockout on Kamaru Usman.
I’m not sure who is the greatest mixed martial artist, is it Michael Bisping or Leon Edwards? I think the win over Kamaru Usman at the time, puts him as the standalone. But before that, Michael Bisping and his knockout on Luke Rockhold and at the cutbacks that Michael Bisping has had, he’s had some vicious knockouts over the years, the one to Dan Henderson. The defeat of Anderson Silva against all the odds. Time and time again he’s proved everyone wrong. This one now with Paddy, Justin Gaethje is probably the biggest puncher he has faced without a shadow of a doubt. But I just believe that Paddy will be too much on the floor, I think he can’t stand up and fight with him, but I don’t think he needs to, I think he needs to get this right to the floor as fast as possible and submit Justin Gaethje. I just don’t think Gaethje is on the same level as him on the floor. So fingers crossed Paddy gets the job done and then what we’d all love to see is the lad have his dream fight at Anfield. Anfield would just be wow. I think he has the capability to beat anyone, Paddy, he has that feeling of invincibility, I can beat anyone. Because until you get dealt with for the first time, good and proper going, which he’s not been in the UFC yet, he’s lively and he’s dangerous, because for every second he’s on his feet for every second he’s in a fight, he’ll believe he can win. That will be one I’ll be staying up for.
