By Jeff Aranow: Tony Bellew is only interested in big fights for the remainder of his career, according to his promoter Eddie Hearn. He says Bellew is interested in a title shot against WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker, or a fight with former champion Tyson Fury or David Haye.
Hearn’s scheduled December 17 fight against Haye was postponed this week after Haye suffered a biceps tear while exercising. Haye will be back inside the ring after he rehabs his surgically repaired right bicep. Bellew will likely still fight Haye, but the date is still unknown for the rematch.
Hearn says Bellew isn’t interested in fighting Dillian Whyte. That’s not a fight that is on Bellew’s radar screen right now. Bellew wants Parker, Fury or Haye. Getting a fight against Parker could be complicated due to him being in negotiations with Anthony Joshua for a unification fight.
If Parker fights Joshua next, then there is a good chance that he’ll lose that fight to him. Parker will serve no purpose as an opponent for Bellew if he’s already been knocked out by Joshua in early 2018.
“The only fighter we have any real interest in, who Tony wants to fight at this stage, Joseph Parker, for example,” said Hearn to IFL TV. “Joseph Parker is not a guy in reserve to come in as a stand in and wait for a call 3 weeks out. It won’t happen. Dillian Whyte is not a guy Tony is interested in. His biggest goal is to get the biggest fights possible for the remainder of his career. He has 1 or 2 fights left in his career,” said Hearn.
What hurts Whyte’s chances of getting a fight with Bellew is the fact that he’s not unbeaten, and he’s looked poor in his loss to Joshua in 2015, and in his recent win over Robert Helenius on October 28.
”They want to fight Haye. Parker is definitely an option,” said Hearn about Bellew. ”Fury is calling him out. Can Dillian Whye be an option? Maybe. He’s certainly not on Tony’s radar. He just wants the biggest fights out there for him, and that was David Haye. Whether that’s still Haye, Tyson Fury or Parker, is there to be discussed. That’s a fight that is being discussed for the spring anyway, Bellew-Parker,” said Hearn.
Parker won’t be a good option for Bellew if he gets beaten by Joshua. There’s no upside for that fight. If Parker beats Joshua in early next year, it means they’ll be a rematch between those two fighters. Bellew won’t enter into the equation.
The only serious options for Bellew’s next fight is Haye and Fury. Of those 2, only Haye seems like a realistic option for Bellew. Tyson Fury still looks very heavy at this point, and he’s not likely to have burned off all of the weight by the first quarter of next year. Hearn admits it himself that he can’t plan for a fight between Bellew and Fury, given the uncertain fury for the Gypsy King. He needs to get clearance from the UK Anti-Doping hearing, and he also needs to be given his license to fight by the British Boxing Board of Control. If both of those things happen, he would still need to lose the tremendous amount of weight that he’s still carrying around. To his credit, Fury has lost some weight, but that’s just a drop in the bucket to the massive amount of weight that he still needs to take off before he’s fit to start fighting again inside the ring.