Tony Bellew reveals how he was expelled from school for breaking his classmate’s jaw and claims he HAD to succeed in boxing because he was only good at ‘punching people in the face’

Tony Bellew says he got into boxing after being expelled from school for beating up his classmate after he violated their teacher.

The former WBC world cruiserweight champion attended Lawrence Community Primary before transferring to Childwall Comprehensive for his senior years.

However, it was at Childwall that Bellew was permanently expelled after he stepped in to defend his teacher after a fellow student sprayed a juice box in their face.

Bellew was asked to leave after he ‘went too far’ by breaking the boy’s jaw and shattering his teeth. Although he was later offered the opportunity to return to the school to take their sixth form.

Talked about the incident during a fireside interview with Kody ‘Big Mo’ Mommaerts NMBSBellew said: “I only really started taking boxing seriously when I got expelled from school.

Bellew was asked to leave after he ‘went too far’ by breaking the boy’s jaw and shattering his teeth. Although he was later offered the opportunity to attend their sixth form

The former world champion continued: ‘I quickly realized that I could do this better [boxing] because that’s the only thing I’m good at.

“Believe it or not, I got kicked out of school because, guess what, I got into a fight. That was the end of it. But just to be clear, I wasn’t a bully or anything. Another student hit a teacher at school.

‘If it had been my maths teacher I would have applauded them and laughed the whole time, but one young man decided to burst a packet of Ribena in a female teacher’s face.

‘I ended up breaking his jaw and knocking out all his teeth. The school expelled me because I went too far. So that went fantastically well. Only if the school invited me back a year later and asked me to do sixth form.

“I did something stupid and said no, being the stubborn fool that I was. So yes. That was my career in boxing, it all started from there.

‘I had no qualifications and the only thing I was good at was punching people in the face. But it all seemed to work out in the end, so I’m not complaining.”

Bellew enjoyed a successful career, winning the ABA heavyweight title three times and securing a record of 40 wins and seven defeats before turning pro in 2007.

Bellew became Commonwealth light heavyweight champion in 2010 by beating Ovill McKenzie via TKO and the following year he claimed the vacant British light heavyweight belt.

The fireside chat was part of the NMBS’s annual gala dinner, on the evening of their national exhibition where executives from more than 280 construction manufacturers come together

He then knocked out Valery Brudov in 2014 to win the WBO international cruiserweight championship before facing Nathan Cleverley and Adonis Stevenson for the world title.

However, it wasn’t until 2016 that Bellew was crowned world champion. He stopped his Congolese opponent Ilunga Makabu at Goodison Park after climbing off the canvas.

Since hanging up his gloves with a professional record of 30 wins, three losses and one draw, Bellew has taken on various roles as an analyst and commentator for DAZN, The Zone, TalkSPORT and others.

Bellew also appeared on ITV’s hit reality show I’m A Celebrity, where he was crowned King of the Jungle after undergoing several bush tucker trials.

The former world champion also appeared on Channel 4’s Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, where he told the camera a story about life after boxing.

Bellew talked about his childhood while speaking with Kody Mommaerts, better known as “Big Mo,” an American martial arts entertainer and ring announcer.

He is currently the Official Ring Announcer for the boxing promotion BOXXER which airs on Sky Sports, and BYB Extreme Fighting Series which airs on BEIN Sports XTRA and Fight Network.

Bellew talked about his childhood while talking to Kody Mommaerts, better known as ‘Big Mo’, an American entertainer and martial arts ring announcer

The fireside chat was part of that NMBS‘ annual gala dinner, on the evening of their national exhibition, bringing together executives from over 280 of the UK’s leading construction manufacturers with over 1,000 independent construction trader delegates, generating over £10 million in additional sales.