AFTER catching an early screening of the latest movie in the highly successful Rocky franchise, “Creed”, Dave Coldwell, trainer of the film’s bad guy, Ricky Conlan, portrayed by Tony Bellew, is mightily impressed with his charge’s onscreen performance and can’t wait for the public to catch of glimpse of Bellew’s performance when it has its UK premiere this week.
“People are going to be surprised,” revealed Coldwell. “When the news hit that Tony was going to be in the film I had no idea what to expect but after watching the film, it shows the dedication and passion of the man as he has really put everything into the role and you can see it means the world to him. I’m honestly so proud of him. Even though he’s a fighter I train, me and Tony have been good mates for close to a decade and to see him in such a promising position such as a Hollywood movie then I’m so happy for him and I truly hope he gets the praise he deserves.”
Despite the adulation currently being enjoyed by Bellew, Coldwell is under no illusions as to where the Liverpool man’s immediate future lies and that is closing in on a deserved world title shot following a gruelling win over the highly ranked Pole, Mateusz Masternak, in December last year. Coldwell believes Bellew is a match for anyone in the cruiserweight division and he’s desperate for his man to get an imminent shot.
“He’s ready right now and this is the time to really make him a massive name on the boxing scene. This movie has raised his profile significantly and it’s came at the same time as he closes in on a world title shot so it really couldn’t be a better time for Tony to really get his name out there. The world title belt is something he absolutely craves and all throughout the filming of the movie he was absolutely adamant that his fight career was his first priority and he’s been true to his word. The Masternak build up could’ve brought so many distractions with the movie receiving such attention but that didn’t deter or distract Tony one bit. He’s done everything asked of him without any shortcuts and I’ve got my fingers crossed a big fight can be delivered for him.”
