Even in retirement, Tony Bellew went out big but his sickening and scary knockout proves he will not be back

The sight of Eddie Hearn and Dave Coldwell, Bellew’s two closest friends in the business, looking on in horror said all you needed to know about Oleksandr Usyk’s devastating knockout of the ‘Bomber’

After the fantasy, the defiance and a moment of comedy there was a sickening end to Tony Bellew’s final fight in Manchester late on Saturday night.

Bellew was a boxer dismantled by his own relentless promises to fight, throw punches and go down swinging against Oleksandr Usyk in their four-belt showdown. Usyk is unbeaten, holds all four cruiserweight world titles, won an Olympic gold in 2012 and operates at a rare level in the boxing business, blending precision with a ruthless power. Bellew won the opening three rounds, made a joke out of resting his arms across the ropes at one point, had a few converted to believing in a fantasy ending and was then stalked, hunted, pushed and finally clobbered by the heartless Usyk, a fighting machine.

Usyk connected cleanly in round eight to drop Bellew heavily and he went down in one chilling movement, smooth, relaxed, disturbingly still and was out cold as he fell. Bellew never crumpled, staggered or toppled when his head swivelled after impact from the looping southpaw left and he just dropped flat on his back, his head lolling over the bottom rope and resting just inches from the outstretched palms of Eddie Hearn, his friend and promoter. There was fear on poor Eddie’s face in that awful moment as he struggled with his basic instinct to cradle his friend’s head in his hands.

The disturbing tableaux was completed by the instant arrival at the terrible scene of Bellew’s coach David Coldwell, another helpless onlooker in the ringside pit, to look up close at his fighter of five glorious years. Bellew was stretched across the ring canvas, legs open, eyes closed, head hanging over the bottom rope. Nobody moved for a second or two, nobody spoke and as the fighter’s two closest friends in the cruel sport looked on in distress, the boxer somehow stirred and was on his knees at the count of three. How? Could Bellew beat the count, get up and continue his fairy tale boxing renaissance? The star of a Rocky spin-off movie was having a real Rocky moment and 20,000 fanatics willed him to stand.

Hearn and Coldwell shared the same look of shock and care at that very moment, they knew right then that Bellew, assuming he beat the count, needed protection from his own heart and desires and fans. They were two professional men, both seasoned in our unforgiving business, with a terrible decision to make, and then the referee, Terry O’Connor, saved their night and finished counting at six or seven to end the fight; O’Connor could see from up close that Bellew could not continue. The official end of Tony Bellew’s career came at exactly two minutes of round eight in his 34th fight: Bellew was in tears straight away. “I’m heartbroken,” he sobbed. “I’m finished, you will never see me in the ring again. Now I just want to be normal.” He will not be back.

Eddie Hearn looks on in horror after Tony Bellew is knocked out by OIeksandr Usyk (Getty)

His tears will dry, the aches will fade and he will adjust to civilian life better than most boxers because Bellew has been acutely aware of just how ridiculous fame and fortune in the boxing world can be. It is often forgotten that he is a scrapper from a time when so many boxers fought for very little, struggled for profile, finished their careers with tiny piles of spare cash and then struggled to stay away from the bright lights that defined their finest moments.

Bellew embraces Hearn after announcing his retirement from boxing (Action Images via Reuters)

His brief and extraordinary passage during the last two years has made him wealthy beyond his dreams and given him security for life - that is the real dream of all prizefighters. It has been fun to watch him take risks in fights, get wildly rich and win, but it was not pleasant watching his inevitable defeat on Saturday night and there is no pleasure in getting predictions like that right. The praise flowed his way before he had finally left the ring after a seemingly endless circle of big hugs and kisses, and the rich torrent of tributes will work as a soothing balm across his swollen features.

Usyk will now seriously consider a move to the heavyweight division and a fight at some point in 2020 with Anthony Joshua. “Heavyweights stay away,” warned Bellew in his post-fight interview with Five Live’s Mike Costello. It was during the same interview that Bellew, who was distracted as he talked in the ring by people shouting to him or cuddling him, asked the BBC man: “How did I get stopped? I don’t even know what round it was.” He was told the raw facts. “Should it have been stopped?”

Bellew attempted to continue but everyone else knew the fight was done (PA)

He was then told the referee did the right thing and Hearn later confirmed that Bellew had asked to continue when it was called off. It was just another tiny detail from a night of memorable images, bold claims and a truly unforgettable finish. Even in defeat Bellew was big news.