Andre Ward would have ‘really, really struggled’ against Tony Bellew
Nov 18, 2025 • 1:00 PM ET
There was a time when it seemed Andre Ward’s plans were to box Tony Bellew at cruiserweight before heading up to fight Anthony Joshua at heavyweight.
California’s Ward, who retired undefeated and as one as the great 168-pounders, starred in the movie Creed alongside Bellew, and the two have a healthy respect for one another.
It is a fight Livepool’s Bellew grudgingly accepts he would have liked – and the former WBC cruiserweight champion thinks his size would have been the difference in the proposed fight against the American.
“Would you like to have fought Andre Ward?” BoxingScene asked Bellew.
“Yes.”
“Would you have won?”
“At cruiserweight? I believe I would, yes. People won’t like me saying that, but I’d have won up at cruiserweight. I’m too big. I’m too big. I need it. Believe you me, I don’t say that lightly, but he’s one of the best.”
Then, deliberating over the question some more, Bellew added: “I don’t, I don’t know if I do.
“He doesn’t have the punch to trouble me and I fight well inside. I can match him inside, but I think I shouldn’t say I should beat him because he’s undefeated. I shouldn’t say that, but I do believe I would.”
Bellew was aware of Ward’s plan to use him as a stepping stone to get to Joshua, and the two spent plenty of time together on set swapping imaginary blows for the Hollywood blockbuster.
“I know this because we spent time on Creed together and I love ‘Dre – I get on great with him,” Bellew added. “But when we stood on scales facing each other with our tops off, he knew; he knew. Even though they were pretend punches getting thrown, he knew I’m a big man.”
Ward only recently discussed again the possibility of boxing Joshua.
“I get it,” Bellew added. “But the weight divisions exist for a reason. He’s not in that domain. Me at cruiserweight is just too big and strong for him. And I can’t emphasize how much I think he's one of the best ever. That’s how highly I rate him.
“But I just think styles make fights. If I was to fight him, I would put a game plan together that he would really struggle with, really struggle with.”
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
