The Boxing History Blog

Tony Bellew was enjoying his honeymoon in Mykonos after marrying the mother of his three children, Rachael Roberts, when he watched on a phone in a bar, Oleksandr Usyk claim the undisputed cruiserweight title with a unanimous decision over Murat Gassiev in Moscow. In his broken English, the new champion from Ukraine called out the only challenger left to him before his inevitable move up into the heavyweight division; Tony Bellew.  The thirty-four-year-old Bellew, who had won the British, Commonwealth and WBC silver light-heavyweight titles and the cruiserweight WBO International and European belts after his failed WBC light-heavyweight title challenge to the hard-punching Adonis Stevenson, also captured the WBC cruiserweight title in front of his home city fans at Goodison Park stadium, the home of his beloved Everton FC. His back-to-back victories over David Haye at heavyweight cemented his legacy in the sport and secured him and his family financially. The WBC granted Bellew Cha...

Robin Reid Born in Sefton, Merseyside on 19th February 1971, Robin Reid had an amateur record of 51-16. He got into boxing mainly because of his foster dad, who was a massive fight fan and they watched the likes of Thomas Hearns and 'Sugar' Ray Leonard together on television. Reid's biological father was Jamaican and during his school years he was subjected to bullying and racism. He admits that he was a bit of a loner and first walked through the doors of a boxing gym as an eight-year-old. It was here that he found the clothes that he wore and the colour of his skin didn't matter. He was treated as an equal and welcomed into this new circle with open arms. He didn't have aspirations to become a world champion, but with hard work and dedication he wound up boxing for England. In 1992 he captured first place in the Canada Cup as a light-middleweight and represented Team GB at the Barcelona Olympics, securing a Bronze Medal. He turned professional as a m...