Tony Bellew on Ricky Hatton, 'it broke my heart - something needs to be done about suicide'

Sporting greats Tony Bellew and Joe Marler are telling the nation to ‘man up’ - but not in the way you would expect. Tony says: “When a man starts opening up and talking, and he's a little bit emotional, he has manned up. He's talking, and he's opening up his emotions and speaking, and that for me is really strong, really powerful, and that's what men need to do more of.” It was the death by suicide of fellow boxer Ricky Hatton, 46, that made the former cruiserweight world champion more determined than ever to encourage open discussion around men’s mental health. He says: “Ricky was my friend, and that broke my heart. He left his kids behind, he's left his closest friends, his best friend, his manager... It's just nuts what it's done to so many people. “I've known Ricky a long time, I've been around him, I've trained alongside him in the gym, I've watched him train, I looked up to him. Suicide is the biggest killer of males under 50 and it's a truly frightening statistic. Something's got to be done.” Now he has teamed up with with fashion brand Jacamo, men’s suicide prevention charity Andy’s Man Club, and former rugby union prop Joe Marler, 36, to launch a new campaign - Man vs Nature - which challenges the conventional meaning of “man up” and redefines what strength means for men today. A study commissioned by Jacamo of 2000 UK men between 25 and 55 found that more than half are masking their mental health struggles, with 55% telling people they are “fine” when they are actually not. Tony, who grew up in Toxeth and Wavertree in Liverpool, says: “I've been getting told to man up since I was 12 years old. I've been raised to be a man that's put on this planet to provide and not say much really, just get it done. ‘I'm not going to lie, I still think there's a place for it in society. When you see professional footballers jump on the floor and roll around screaming, and the referee gives a free kick, and then he jumps back up and nothing's wrong with him—they're the kind of things where you say ‘man up.’” Tony learned to fight his own battles in childhood, growing up as a mixed race kid in a challenging environment. His father, who ran a security firm, made him wear a bulletproof vest while working on nightclub doors in his teens.. Leaving school with no formal qualifications, he found salvation in the Rotunda ABC boxing gym. He says: “I'm very proud of where I'm from, I've got good parents.” But he says the Liverpool streets where he grew-up were tough. Of kids from his area, he says: “You're either going to be one of two things - very good at telling jokes or very good at fighting. It's just that simple, because if you can't do either of them, then you're in deep trouble.” During a stellar career in the ring, Tony defeated former two-weight world champion David Haye twice by stoppage in high-profile heavyweight bouts and retired in 2018, with 30 wins (20 by knockout). He says: “In 22 years in the game, I’ve taken 1.1 million punches to the head, and that’s a conservative estimate.” He does worry about the lasting impact of these blows - especially when boxing legend Muhammad Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's, which medical experts believed to be linked to repeated head trauma. Tony says: “I'm sure it's going to catch me. It's on my tail. But I'm still bobbing and weaving.” He has also struggled with his mental health after retiring. Tony explains: “You have two lives as an athlete. Tony Bellew's dead, in my opinion. He left when the boxing finished. When people see me in the street or talk to me, they see the boxer. “I've had the same 10 friends all my life, we went to school together, and they don't see just the boxer. When I first retired, I thought I was just going to enjoy getting fat. That got boring after six months and then I really found out what mental health was. “Life's difficult for someone in my position. I've achieved my lifelong goals and dreams. But then what do you do next? My whole life's been about boxing and fighting and I wake up on a Sunday morning after my last fight, and I'm not a boxer no more. “I've been in some really low spots, where I felt like there's no way out at times. But I've got four kids, and there's not a chance in this world I'm leaving them, or my wife.” Tony now lives in Southport with his wife Rachel and their four sons, Corey, Cobey, Carter and Carson. He met Rachel when they were around nine years old, growing up on the same street in Liverpool. They began dating as teenagers and married at Cheshire’s Peckforton Castle in 2018. Now retired from sport, his goal is to inspire his children. Tony says: “The last thing my kids need to be seeing is some fat former world champion sitting on the couch just watching telly, because he's achieved his goals and dreams. “If they can see that dad's getting up for work, going to do different things, it can inspire them to think, ‘you know what, my dad achieved what he set out to achieve, but he didn't just stop there, he wanted to do more.’ That's the thing that drives me the most.” And he wants to encourage men and boys to be more open about how they feel. He says: “With young men, it's very, very difficult. They're thrown out into the world and emotion is kind of not put to them, and they're not really speaking. It can be hard at times. “I've got a 21-year-old and an 18-year-old. The 18-year-old will talk to me about absolutely anything, but the 21-year-old will just shut me down. “My 13-year-old just thinks he knows everything, so yeah, it's only the 6-year-old who wants to listen to me. But I just try and be there for them as much as you possibly can.” Tony Bellew, who was runner-up on I'm a Celebrity in 2023, is great friends with the winner, Sam Thompson. He says: “Me and Sam did bond and we had a good laugh, but at times he's testing, and it can feel like one of my kids is in there with me. “He's a lovely boy, a good laugh, but it's not funny when someone's waking you up after your afternoon nap and he's two inches away from your face asking, ‘did you beat David Haye?’” But there’s one fellow contestant who he’s completely lost touch with - Reform leader Nigel Farage. Tony says: “Nigel Farage was so nice when I was in the jungle, and then the minute I came out, he wouldn't speak a single word to me or even look at me. So that's the only instance where I'd say, ‘you were a bit weird and you were obviously a fake.’” In the jungle, he continues: “I didn't really know who he was. I don't really pay attention to politics. Still …everything was great while we were in there, but the minute we got out…” Reality TV shows and mental health campaigns aside, Tony - who playedBritish boxer 'Pretty' Ricky Conlan in Hollywood film Creed - would be keen to do some more acting.. He says: “I’d explore that again for sure, I enjoyed acting. It's easier taking pretend punches in the face than real punches in the face.” *For more info about Jacamo’s Man vs Nature campaign, visit https://www.jacamo.co.uk/pages/man-v-nature