Former cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellew has revealed one concern that stands out to him ahead of the upcoming legacy-defining undisputed heavyweight title showdown between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, as well as offering a confident prediction for the bout.
The clash between Usyk and Fury is undoubtedly a historic one, the victor being crowned as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 2000 and the first of the four-belt era, the defeated losing their heavyweight titles and undefeated records.
However, the battle is made all the more intriguing by the disparity in size between the two men, Usyk being a natural cruiserweight and Fury being one of the tallest heavyweight champions of all-time.
Yet, in an interview with Spinbet, Bellew declared his belief that Usyk will be able to deal with the extraordinary physical advantages of ‘The Gypsy King’, although he admitted that the Ukrainian could get robbed on the judges’ scorecards.
“It’ll be fascinating, but I think it won’t be pretty to watch but Oleksandr Usyk will grind out the victory. I hope he doesn’t get shafted because if he does get the decision, I believe it’s the greatest run of any fighter I’ve seen.
“Every champion he’s went into his backyard and unified divisions. He did it throughout the cruiserweight division and unified. He came to the heavyweight champion’s backyard (Anthony Joshua in London) and beat him on his own turf.
“He’s going to beat Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia against all of the odds, talk about an underdog story. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not so much of an underdog because I know how good he is having been in the ring with him and the whole cruiserweight division did, but nobody anticipated him to do what he’s done at heavyweight, me included.”
A two-way rematch is inserted in the contract of the contest, meaning we are likely to see a second affair between the heavyweight duo before the end of the year.