In just a few hours time, ‘The Bomber’ will face undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk at the Manchester Arena.
Victory over the Ukrainian will see Bellew become the fourth Brit to rule an entire division, the previous three being former heavyweight, middleweight and lightweight champions Lennox Lewis, Alan Minter and Ken Buchanan.
And the Liverpudlian will bow out of the boxing world with a hefty pay-cheque.
It has emerged that the former WBC cruiserweight king will pocket a cool £4million for his swansong.
The richest fight in cruiserweight history is expected to generate around £15million in total.
It’s currently unknown how much Usyk will make for the bout, his first since unifying the division.
Bellew’s guaranteed purse is significantly more than the one he earned for his rematch with David Haye, which saw him pocket £2.5million before receiving his cut of the pay-per-view revenue.
Although tonight’s fight with Usyk is likely to draw significantly less PPV buys than his rematch with Haye, Bellew’s final purse will increase once he receives his slice of the revenue pie.
Bellew goes into his last dance as a huge underdog, which he’s been many times in his career.
The 35-year-old is well aware that his chances of victory have been written off once again and has vowed to leave the naysayers with egg on their faces by taking the undefeated Usyk’s ‘soul.’”
“I see a bit of a lunatic, the same thing I see when I look in the mirror, someone who’s not all there, someone who’s got a screw loose,” Bellew said of his opponent.
“I think he got confused the first time he looked in my eyes.
‘What he said that he saw was a man who has arrogance but he confuses arrogance for confidence.
“He’s never looked into a fighter’s eyes before that truly believes he can beat him. I don’t think I can beat him, I know I can beat him.
“I am going to beat the monster, I’m going to defeat him.
“He’s not going to be able to take it, I’m going to break him, I’m going to take his soul.”
Bellew vs Usyk fight card
Oleksandr Usyk vs Tony Bellew (cruiserweight world title fight)
Anthony Crolla vs Daud Jordan (lightweight fight)
Josh Kelly vs Walter Fabian Castillo (welterweight fight)
Sam Hyde vs Richar Riakporhe (cruiserweight fight)