Tony Bellew on Ben Whittaker and Bivol: "Nobody goes from Conor Wallace to Dmitry Bivol"

Bellew lost patience with iFL TV over Whittaker's next step, while trainer Andy Lee revealed Whittaker "was sick last week".

By Combat Sports UK Staff · Published Sun 4 Oct, 11:49 UK · AI-assisted reporting

Tony Bellew and Andy Lee speaking to iFL TV at Whittaker vs Wallace in Birmingham — iFL TV

Tony Bellew says Ben Whittaker is not ready to go straight from beating Conor Wallace to fighting Dmitry Bivol, and ended an interview with iFL TV by telling the interviewer to leave him alone.

Pressed on why Whittaker was put in a final eliminator if he was not going to take the title shot, Bellew said: "Not everybody who goes into a final eliminator is looking to fight for the world title in the next fight. Some people go into a final eliminator and you know why? Because the title may be coming vacant soon. The champion may be moving on to somewhere else."

"There's steps in boxing," he said. "Nobody goes from Conor Wallace to Dmitry Bivol." He finished: "Now f*** off and leave me alone."

Whittaker's trainer Andy Lee said his fighter had been ill before the unanimous decision win that made him the IBF's mandatory challenger. "He was sick last week. It doesn't really matter now, but he still got in there and won. And he won ten of the rounds," Lee said. "There's a time and there's a place and there's a journey. And he will fight one of those champions."

Eddie Hearn said the same night that Whittaker is mandatory for the winner of Callum Smith against Bivol, "but we need another fight".