Tony Bellew and Andre Ward in talks for 'Rocky' spinoff movie

The Rocky spinoff Creed, which will star Michael B. Jordan and be directed by Fruitvale Station director Ryan Coogler, may have a couple of notable current boxing names as part of the cast. Super middleweight champion Andre Ward and former light heavyweight title challenger Tony Bellew are both in talks to co-star in the movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Bellew, 31, will reportedly play "Pretty Ricky Porter," the main rival for Jordan's Creed, the grandson of Rocky and Rocky II main opponent Apollo Creed, who was killed by Ivan Drago in an exhibition fight in Rocky IV, after becoming pals with Rocky Balboa in Rocky III after Mickey, Rocky's trainer, had been killed by the antics of Clubber Lang.

This is really a sensationally stupid movie world.

Anyway, Bellew would be following in the footsteps of Antonio Tarver, who played Mason "The Line" Dixon, one of the worst named characters in movie history, in 2006's Rocky Balboa, fighting a 60-something Rocky in a pay-per-view exhibition.

Tarver bulked up for that role and some have said that the weight and loss of focus on his real career affected his boxing after the movie, but he was also in his late 30s already and is still fighting, though not on a high level.

The article doesn't say who Ward would be playing, although if it mirrors his career, he won't be a fighter, and will probably be part of the movie's HBO broadcast team.

Bellew (22-2-1, 14 KO) has a fight on November 22, a grudge rematch with Nathan Cleverly in Liverpool.