Former world champion Tony Bellew believes that he's still capable of beating top fighters - if he dedicated himself to making a comeback in the sport.

The man who captured the WBC world title at cruiserweight, retired from the sport in 2018 after suffering a knockout loss at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk.

Before the loss to Usyk, Bellew had dropped the WBC belt he captured in 2016 to make a lucrative jump to the heavyweight division - and stopped David Haye in back to back fights.

Bellew is currently working behind the mic, as an expert analyst for Sky Sports.

Bellew believes that he could toy with former unified champion Andy Ruiz, who last year shocked the world when he stopped Anthony Joshua in seven rounds. Joshua got revenge in December, when he outboxed Ruiz over twelve rounds.

But, Bellew also cautions that he currently does not have any intentions to make a return to the ring.

"I still feel like I could beat people, mate. I'm pretty confident I'd play with Andy Ruiz, I'd absolutely make a fool of him. I'm confident, 100 percent. Would I be willing to risk it and put it on the line? Probably not, no. I don't think I'm the same animal but I do think I could turn into it," Bellew stated during an interview with promoter Eddie Hearn on Matchroom's Talk the Talk.

"I've got a mentality that switches sometimes, I think I can switch at any moment but can your body and mind persevere with a twelve week camp? Can I get through it? Can I cope with the sparring sessions? If I was to come back, there's no way I could deal with another pull-out, that's what I would say.

"You can't train for twelve weeks then a fighter says 'I've got an injury, I'm pulling out'. I'd literally have a breakdown. So, I do still feel like I could do it, I'm not an old, old fighter. I had some wars. But with the Usyk fight I knew it was the end because I was getting injuries toward the end of camp as you knew."