Tony Bellew confirms Ricky Conlan’s return in Creed 3

Retired boxer Tony Bellew – who played ‘Pretty’ Ricky Conlan in Creed – has confirmed he’ll be reprising the role in forthcoming sequel Creed III.

Tony Bellew is a British boxer who fought from 2007 to 2018. In that time he won the WBC Cruiserweight title, while he also held British and Commonwealth light-heavyweight titles.

While he was fighting, Bellew also made the move into movies. Ryan Coogler – writer-director of Creed – wanted protagonist Adonis to fight a European boxer in the first film.

Coogler was after someone who could fight for real, saw videos of Bellew talking about his upbringing on YouTube, screen-tested the boxer, then offered him the role.

What has Tony Bellew said about Creed 3?

Bellew played ‘Pretty’ Ricky Conlan in the first movie, who defeated Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) by split decision. The character was then sent to prison for gun charges, so didn’t appear in the sequel.

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Speaking about Creed III in November, Bellew told MSN: “Michael B. Jordan is directing this third one, all will be revealed soon I would imagine.

“For now, ‘Pretty’ Ricky Conlan is still in the penitentiary, I’m sure he’ll want to come out and make some noise, being the pound-for-pound king that he was before he got locked up.”

Tony Bellew confirms return in Creed 3

While he was keeping his cards close to his chest regards the film back then – and still doesn’t appear as a cast member on the film’s IMDb page – Bellew has now confirmed his participation.

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Speaking on an ITV documentary about his life and career called Against the Odds, Bellew said: “I’ve just done number three as well now. I haven’t just done it once, I’ve done it twice so now I can say I’m an actor as well. You are the first people to hear it.”

Michael B. Jordan makes his directorial debut with Creed III, and it’s thought that Jonathan Majors is playing his opponent in the movie, but don’t be surprised to see a Conlan-Creed rematch happening at some point.

Creed III is set to hit screens on November 23, 2022.