Tony Bellew‘s time in boxing came to an end following a devastating knockout defeat.
After reaching the pinnacle of his career by capturing the WBC cruiserweight title, Bellew then stepped through the ropes for the final time in November 2018 when he took on Oleksandr Usyk.
The Ukrainian was the undisputed cruiserweight champion at the time, after Bellew vacated his title in order to have two fights at heavyweight against David Haye, with the Liverpudlian winning them both.
He couldn’t repeat that success against Usyk though, as the Ukrainian claimed a brutal eighth round knockout victory, with Bellew announcing his retirement immediately following the bout.
Bellew has now urged a British heavyweight to do the same, after pleading with Joe Joyce to hang up his gloves.
Joyce was seen as a major player at heavyweight after stoppage victories over Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker, but four defeats in his last five fights have left his career in tatters.
With that in mind, Bellew explained to Talksport why now is the time for Joyce to retire.
“Joe Joyce’s greatest attribute has always been his resilience and durability, and I told anybody that would listen that the minute that goes that boy is an accident waiting to happen.
“Bear in mind I like Joe Joyce. I think the world of the lad but he shouldn’t be anywhere near a boxing ring. An interview came out before the fight and it was taken down from social media immediately because of the backlash it got. The interview lasted a couple of minutes and Joe couldn’t string more than a couple of sentences together.
“He’s been an amazing fighter but understand that once that durability goes that’s the end of you. Once your greatest attribute goes that’s you done, and that was his greatest attribute. He could absorb anything.
“When he was getting knocked down by the likes of Derek Chisora, folded by Zhilei Zhang, it’s got to be over. Promoters should not be putting him on in my opinion. It’s really worrying. I don’t want to see a casualty, I don’t want to see anything bad happen to the lad.”
Bellew isn’t the only one who wants Joyce to retire, with former super-middleweight king Carl Froch also sharing the same view.
