Tony Bellew interview: “Boxing is being made great again and that’s down to his excellency, Turki Alalshikh”

AceOdds recently sat down with former British & European cruiserweight and Commonwealth light-heavyweight champion, Tony Bellew. In a section of this, we discussed how Tony thinks boxing should be organised and run, his opinion on the Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight, why he thinks boxing is great again, his opinion on boxers and MMA fighters transitioning into each others sport, and his honest opinion of Francis Ngannou.
I’ve included the full transcript below. You’re welcome to use his response, but we ask that you credit AceOdds as the source.
QUESTION:
Should boxing change and see everyone governed by one body instead of four separate ones?
TONY:
That’s not possible because there are too many agendas in boxing. All the governing bodies should circulate to one body if that makes sense. So, there should be one overriding organisation over everything. And the four bodies, the WBC, the WBA, the IBF and the WBO, should all coincide within this one body. So, they should all put money in together and they all own 25% of this body that I’m talking about.
That then comes under one set of rules, one set of drug testers, and that’s how boxing needs to be. They can all still get the money, they will still fight for the WBC title, they’ll still fight for the WBA, the IBF, and WBO, but ultimately, they will all reside under one set of rules and all the sanctioning bodies, all of the governing bodies, all of the states and all of the commissions, they will partake under these one set of rules of boxing. That’s what needs to happen.
And each of the governing commissions, they pay into this pot, they pay into this organisation and that’s how you run boxing.
Look what’s just been done with Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. How the fuck has that been getting registered as a professional bout? It’s got 14-ounce gloves and you’re fighting two-minute rounds. What the fuck is going on? Who’s commissioned that? and who’s approving that? That idiot Jake Paul just wants to be on Mike Tyson’s record. I mean, it is fucking insane.
I know what Mike’s doing. Mike doesn’t give a shit anymore, and I understand why he doesn’t give a shit about his record, but how are you passing this? Mike Tyson’s whole career has been fought over three-minute rounds. How is he allowing a two-minute round bout to go on his professional record?
This is just because of the pure audacity and the fucking class of someone like Jake Paul wanting to go on Mike Tyson’s professional resume. It’s insane and if boxing was all governed under one set of rules, then all professional fights would be over three-minute rounds.
The women’s code is over two-minute rounds, not the men’s. So why is a bout over two-minute rounds being deemed as a professional bout? It’s a disgrace. It’s an absolute piss take.
But that’s the way to make boxing great again. Boxing is becoming great again and I must say this, people won’t like what I’m about to say, but boxing’s being made great again because the best are fighting the best, and that’s down to his excellency, Turki Alalshikh. He’s going to end up making all the big fights happen and the big fights haven’t been able to happen because of the likes of your promoters, your managers. They all have got these agendas, and now he’s actually taking that into his own hands and he’s making it happen.
He’s changing it up. He’s changing the game and I can’t give him enough credit to be fair. We’re seeing the great fights we’ve always wanted to see and that’s down to Turki Alalshikh.
There is a way that you can make boxing transparent and make it do the right things. And that, in my opinion, is ultimately doing what I’ve just said. All the governing bodies, all the sanctioning bodies, all the states, all of these things, coinciding inside a set of rules and these rules can’t be broken. That’s how you then make boxing great again.
QUESTION:
How would you fare if you were to cross over into MMA? It’s not something we’ve seen a lot of boxers do.
TONY:
I haven’t got a fucking chance. Are you joking? They’d just pick me up off the floor and slam me and choke the fucking life out of me. But then, if they get in a boxing ring with me, there’s not a mixed martial artist in the world who could keep up with me in a boxing ring.
But if I go in their domain, they’re going to fucking eat me alive. I mean, I’ve wrestled with guys and I understand the art of wrestling. You’ve got no fucking chance, mate.
If someone knows Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, you’re fucked. I’ve got a puncher’s chance, and they take that away the minute they put me on the fucking floor. So, why any fighter or boxer believes he’s going to do well in mixed martial arts is fucking beyond me.
You obviously haven’t been in a gym and trained with mixed martial artists. I have, and unfortunately, it’s not a fucking pleasant experience. It’s a painful one, and it’s over pretty quickly too if they want it to be. But make no mistake, you flip that coin over, you come into a boxing ring, I would embarrass any mixed martial artist in a boxing ring, but make no mistake, as I’ve just said, flip that coin back over, they would embarrass me in a fucking octagon.
It’s a certain skill set that you’ve got, and in mixed martial arts, the skill set is so broad. You’ve got guys trying to master five different disciplines, whether it’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, boxing, Thai boxing, wrestling. I don’t even know how they walk because they’re trying to work on that many different fucking disciplines.
But yeah, no boxer’s got a chance against a fucking guy in mixed martial arts. No chance whatsoever. Francis Ngannou is the most dangerous man in the whole fucking entire world. No one is going into a room with that man and coming out alive. That fucker is the hulk. He’s not a boxer, make no mistake, but if you go into a room with that man, you aren’t coming out. I don’t give a fuck who you are. The only man who’s got a chance of coming out of a room with that guy is Jon Jones. And guess what, he’s shit hot too. The Mixed Martial Artist guys are different breeds.
No one’s beating one of the guys. Fuck that. Someone comes at me on the street, I’m running. Now I’m not running from fucking no one. But If I see Francis Ngannou and he’s got a problem, guess what? I’m on my toes.

Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Executive Writer, Senior Editor of FightBook MMA. Has a passion for Combat Sports and also a podcast host for Sitting Ringside. He’s also a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer.