Tony Bellew got to know Oleksandr Usyk up close, having been stopped by the Ukrainian in the Englishman’s final fight. And while Bellew has respect for Usyk, he doesn’t believe he can beat the heavyweight division’s big two: Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
Usyk (17-0, 13 KOs) was a unified cruiserweight champ and the 2018 Fighter of the Year before moving up to heavyweight in October, when he stopped Chazz Witherspoon in seven rounds.
“[Usyk’s] a brilliant fighter,” Bellew said on Colin Murray’s 52 podcast. “People always ask me, ‘How will he do as a heavyweight?’ So let’s just get down to it. I think he will beat every single heavyweight out there besides two, and they are the big boys.
“I don’t think he is big enough to beat A.J., and I don’t think he is big enough to beat Tyson Fury. The only thing that can beat him is size. Don’t get me wrong. When he fights A.J., I think he’ll be ahead, but then I think A.J. will get to him and work him down, and gradually he will get there.
“When it comes to Tyson Fury, he just won’t be allowed to get close enough. Fury is that big.”
Usyk needed eight rounds to stop Bellew in a what had been a close fight in November 2018. That was the 6-foot-3 Usyk’s last fight at 200 pounds. He weighed 215 for the Witherspoon fight.