Former world champion Briton Tony Bellew is familiar firsthand with Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) – the winner OI-2012, the undisputed cruiserweight champion and three heavyweight titles. In 2018, he tried to take away the title of absolute in the heavyweight division from a boxer from Ukraine, but lost ahead of schedule, after which he ended his career.
On August 20, in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Usyk will fight a rematch with the previous holder of the WBA Super, IBF and WBO belts, British heavyweight Anthony Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs), whom he beat in September in London (England).
According to Bellew, a compatriot is quite capable of beating a Ukrainian: “Firstly, Joshua immediately made changes after the defeat of Usyk. First, he made head coach Angel Fernandez, and then he also added the legendary Robert Garcia to the staff. The last one has a lot of expectations. It will be interesting to see what and how he will change in Anthony at this stage of his career. Robert is a winner in life: a successful boxer, a top coach. He will be fully focused on winning and preparing Joshua for the most important test of his career.”
“I know that he will demand from Joshua that he quickly entered the battle. There is no other way, because if Usyk is again given the opportunity to dictate the pace and density of the battle, then later you may not have time to change anything. In this case, it may well be a repetition of the first battle. Joshua needs to rely on the advantage in size, speed, power. But do it right. That is, immediately let Usyk understand that this time there is a completely different animal in the ring against him. Usyk must understand how dangerous his opponent is. He should be wary of him,” says Bellew.
The Briton is sure that the upcoming fight “is very important for Joshua, but in case of defeat, he will still remain the top fighter of the division. Just in this case, you will have to wait a bit with plans to regain the championship titles again. But that doesn’t mean it’s over.”
It turns out that Bellew dreams of seeing Usyk in a fight against former WBC champion American Deontay Wilder: “Can you imagine that? Fight Wilder vs Usyk in the States? It would be a bomb fight between two explosive fighters. And at the same time, Jousha could meet in Britain with Dillian Whyte or Joe Joyce. Such fights in Britain would definitely gather a huge stadium. I do not rule out even a fight between Joshua and Tyson Fury. After all, this fight in any case will remain very popular. Usyk’s defeat would simply complicate Joshua’s life, force him to reconsider his plans. But he has proved more than once before that such challenges only turn him on more strongly. ”
A little earlier, Joe Joyce shared his thoughts on Usyk, Joshua, White and Parker. Meanwhile, promoter Eddie Hearn claims that the Ukrainian cannot cope with the power of AJ.
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