I’m A Celebrity star Tony Bellew has admitted to his campmates that he fears he almost died during his boxing bout with current heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk, who’s set to face off against Tyson Fury next year, beat Bellew by KO back in 2018 when the Ukrainian was fighting at welterweight.
During Sunday’s I’m A Celeb, Bellew claimed that if the referee didn’t intervene to call off the bout, he may not have lived to tell the tale.
The revelation came when Jamie Lynn Spears asked: “What does it feel like when you knock somebody out?”
“Do you know what, babe? It’s a relief it’s over,” Bellew replied before Spears questioned: “You’re not happy to knock someone out, but you are kind of, because that’s your job…”
“I live for the knockout,” Bellew weighed in as Spears admitted: “It would be my worst nightmare to know I have to literally fight.”
Bellew fought Usyk back in 2018
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Bellew then delved into the psyche of a boxer as he explained: “The most important part is controlling yourself emotionally. You can’t be emotionally attached to the event, you’ve got to be cold.
“I don’t think anything I’ve done is really special. Anyone can do it, you’ve just got to be willing to sacrifice.”
Spears giggled before she chipped in: “I’m sorry no. No, no, no. There’s a lot of things anyone can do, boxing is not one of them!”
Keen to get involved, Sam Thompson – who’s been tipped by a former I’m A Celeb star to win the series – interjected to ask: “What was it like fighting Usyk?”
“Too hard,” Bellew conceded. “Obviously he’s amazing. I’ve fought stronger people, I’ve fought quicker people, but I’ve never fought someone like him who has got everything.
“He works you out. He downloads what you do. He’s downloading all the data in front of him.
“It takes him three rounds to do it. With me, it took him eight. And then he does it, he pulled the trigger.
“But I was exhausted, like. I remember everything up until round seven. I don’t remember round eight.”
Tony Bellew arrived in camp as a late arrival
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“Because you were so tired?” Fred Siriex asked while Thompson continued his line of questioning: “Does he hit hard or not?”
Bellew answered: “No and I was up at six. He didn’t knock me clean out… I get up at six, thank god the referee didn’t let me because he’d have killed me.”
The boxer delved further in the Bush Telegraph: “The referee literally saved my life. Next shot probably puts me away for good.
“So, boxing at the highest level in the professional business is brutal. My priority was to make it home safe. After that it was to win at all costs.”
