Tony Bellew remains as passionate as ever about boxing and, for him, one man in the sport stands above all others.
His own career saw Bellew became a cruiserweight world champion in dramatic fashion by stopping Ilunga Makabu at Goodison Park, having been put down on the canvas early.
After that, he famously twice fought and beat former cruiserweight and heavyweight champion David Haye and made a valiant challenge against undisputed cruiserweight ruler Oleksandr Usyk and started well but was ultimately stopped.
In a post on social media, Bellew declared that for him, the greatest ever fighter is American Roy Jones Jr.
“I’d say the greatest boxer ever is [Roy Jones Jnr] and the greatest man to ever box is Muhammad Ali.”
The legendary Jones Jr earned a silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics before going on to claim world titles across four weight classes from middleweight to heavyweight. He did so with dazzling speed, unorthodox angles and a signature leaping left hook, which led to him retiring with 66 wins from 76 professional bouts.
Many believe that had Jones Jr retired after his historic win up at heavyweight over John Ruiz, he would be remembered even more fondly than he already is. However, he had over 15 more fights and lost to the likes of Bernard Hopkins and Joe Calzaghe before finally calling it a day in 2023, aged 54.
As for Ali, he is often hailed as ‘The Greatest,’ and his legacy was made not only through famous bouts with the likes of Joe Frazier and George Foreman but also through his tireless commitment to social and political activism.
