Tony Bellew has played down the possibility of a comeback fight against Derek Chisora, but believes the callout was genuine.
After securing a shock victory over Joe Joyce last month, Chisora posted a fight poster of him and Bellew on social media, with the tagline ‘Reversing Retirement’ and a date of December 2024 in Manchester.
Former cruiserweight world champion, Bellew hung up the gloves in 2018 after falling short in a bid to dethrone then-undisputed champion, Oleksandr Usyk.
The Liverpudlian spent a large part of his career in the light heavyweight division before moving up to cruiserweight where he spent the last few years, barring two money-spinning showdowns with David Haye at heavyweight, both of which he won.
Chisora, 40, insists he has two fights remaining in his career, which spans 48 professional bouts, although the ‘Bomber’ has rejected the idea of the idea of facing ‘War’, who he has known since the amateurs.
👀 @TonyBellew pic.twitter.com/mKZOZNXQvH
— Derek Chisora 🥊 (@DerekWarChisora) August 8, 2024
“Of course he’s serious,” Bellew told Instant Casino.
“He’s been saying to me for years, ‘we are fighting for my last fight, my 50th fight.’
“Me and Derek go back 20 years. Great mates. We’re really good mates.
“We’re family, our families are close and friends. He was at my wedding, he and his wife were on our table.
“He just, he’s got this thing in his head that we can have a fight and I’m just like, stop it.
“I’ve missed a couple of FaceTime calls in the last few days.
“We spoke when I was on holiday. I literally woke him up after the Joe Joyce fight at eight in the morning to make sure he was feeling feeling okay, ‘how’s your head, everything okay?’
“And he was okay. He’s all right. So I love Derek Chisora, but nothing is tempting me to fight him.
“Me putting 10 ounce gloves on and hitting Derek Chisora would not end well. It would not end well.”
The Finchley man floored Joyce in the ninth round, before taking a unanimous decision to breathe further life into his dramatic career.
It remains unclear who will be in the opposite corner for his next bout, although he has been called out by rising heavyweight, Johnny Fisher, who blew away Alen Babic inside a round in his last contest.
