Tony Bellew: Nigel Farage ghosted me after I’m a Celebrity

My Sporting Life is The i Paper’s look behind the curtain at what drives sports stars to greatness. This week, former world champion Tony Bellew gets real about the highs, lows and life after boxing. My dream was to play football for Everton But the fact is I’ve got two left feet, so there was no chance of that. Goodison Park was all my dreams come true. I am the kid who lived his lifelong dream of winning the WBC belt at his home stadium. That was the goal all along. Bellew celebrates after stopping Ilunga Makabu to win the WBC cruiserweight title at Goodison Park in May 2016 (Photo: Getty) A lot of hard work, blood, sweat, tears, countless setbacks, you know, heartbreaks. But it all came good on the night, thankfully. If it hadn’t happened, I’m pretty sure I’d still be fighting today. I was expelled from school at 15 I had no qualifications. I got into all sorts of trouble. I did things I didn’t really want to do to make money. But I thought I’d made it after winning my first ABA title. I beat the reigning champion. His name was Mick O’Connell, and he fought for the Marines. From that moment, I took everything seriously. I started to prepare diligently. At that stage in my life, I knew I was going to make a career out of this. I suffered the worst injury of my life at Soccer Aid I snapped my Achilles tendon. That’s the worst I’ve ever had. The pain was unimaginable. I’ve broken both hands on multiple occasions. But for me, the two worst injuries have come from playing football. I also snapped the ligaments across the top of my foot. Breaking my hands and stuff like that, I fought five times with a fractured or broken hand, and that happened every single time in a fight, it never happened to me in the gym. Oleksandr Usyk was my toughest opponent by far Bellew put up a brave effort against Oleksandr Usyk before being stopped in the eighth round in November 2018 (Photo: Getty) I’ve never faced anyone as good as him. He was the best. I have nothing but admiration for him, because I was coming off the best win of my career over David Haye. His judgement of distance was second to none. His front foot was never more than five or six inches away from my front foot. For him to take that away from me was so hard. When I walked out, the last thing I remember thinking was I’m out of my depth here, and he’s the only person who made me feel like that. Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury has to happen next The biggest British fight of all time should happen in the UK. Simple. I don’t see why it can’t. I think it’d be far better for the country for a whole if they fight here. And if they’re saying it can’t happen at Wembley because of time restrictions, stick it in the Millennium. AJ can knock out Fury I’ve always backed Joshua to beat him. When Joshua lets his hands go, he can beat anyone. It’s a really good fight. He’s the biggest punching heavyweight in the world, probably second to Deontay Wilder. But that ain’t Wilder I’ve seen in the ring the last couple of times, so I don’t count him. He’s shot to bits. I’d beat Wilder now if I came back and I ain’t fought for eight years, and that’s saying something. I’d spank him in a couple of rounds. I’m not a flashy guy Photographed here on pundit duty at the Copper Box Arena in May 2025 for Dave Allen’s rematch with Johnny Fisher (Photo: Getty) I haven’t got a Rolls-Royce, my dream car, which I’ve always wanted. I’ve been very fortunate to have good people around me. I’m trying to set an example to my kids. My advice to youngsters would be pay your taxes, which I’ve always done. It sounds a bit boring, but it’s not. I’m just a normal kid from Liverpool. We live in a beautiful house. My house is worth an absolute fortune. I look to invest 50 per cent of my earnings, I look to spend 30 per cent and I put 20 per cent into things that come with a bit of risk. Nigel Farage is a fraud He was very nice to me in the Jungle, but then completely ignored me the minute we got out. I haven’t crossed paths with him since. He’s not my kind of person. He’s a politician, which basically means he’s a liar. So yeah, I just take people as I find them. He’s not very straight. Not my cup of tea. I love Andy Burnham – I’m backing him to do well I’ve met him loads of times at matches over the years. I like Burnham. He’s a good man, mate. We’ve had good chats. He’s a really nice guy. He’s got a good heart, which is something that very few politicians actually have. Of course, it makes it even better that he’s a mad Bluenose like me! Tony Bellew is a Dazn pundit. Moses Itauma vs Filip Hrgovic and the full card from London’s O2 Arena is live on Dazn, the undisputed global home of boxing on Saturday 29 August – subscribe to Dazn here.