Former WBC cruiserweight champion Tonny Bellew knows pretty damn well what it’s like to face Oleksandr Usyk himself. The Brit gotbrutally Ko’d when he fought the former undisputed cruiserweight king back in 2018.
Usyk was the one who put Bellew into retirement. The fight that took place in Manchester nearly three years ago was the last one in Bellew’s pro career and the last cruiserweight fight for Usyk before he moved up to the heavyweight ranks.
Now the 2012 Olympic gold medalist is preparing himself for the biggest fight of his life. Usyk is the mandatory challenger to Joshua’s WBO belt and the two will face each other on September 25 in London.
Bellew claims the Usyk is by far the est boxer that “AJ” will ever face, but still believes Joshua’s size and reach advantage will get him through Usyk.
“I’ve been saying it. This is the best boxer he’s ever going to face in a boxing ring,” Bellew told Kugan Cassius on IFL TV.
“The best natural boxer, without a shadow of a doubt. It’s not potentially his hardest fight because Tyson Fury’s potentially his hardest fight. But the best boxer he’ll ever face? Yes.
“For what he’s capable of doing, how good he is, how technically good he is, the arsenal of punches that he’s got. He’s outstanding as a boxer. Standalone, without a doubt. He won’t face a better boxer than him.”
“It’s a hard fight, it’s not an easy fight. Everyone’s going on about ‘It’s a cruiserweight vs a heavyweight’.
“It’s the greatest cruiserweight that’s ever put a pair of gloves on. It’s not just any cruiserweight. The boy is a big boy. He’s a naturally-sized heavyweight.
“He’s just not of the modern, super-generation heavyweights. It’s a hard fight. It’s one I think [AJ] will come through because I think his size and how he imposes himself on him will play a factor in the fight.”
