Tony Bellew "100%" Interested In Fighting Oleksandr Usyk
Posted: 25 May 2018, 10:43
Andre Ward and Tyson Fury are not the only fighters that Tony Bellew is willing to face in the future.
Since Bellew's five round mauling of David Haye on May 5 there has been plenty of talk doing the rounds as to who the 35-year-old would fight next.
Ward and Fury appear top of the wish-list but another name that Bellew wouldn't say no to is Oleksandr Usyk. As things stand the WBC/WBO cruiserweight champion is still waiting on a date for his World Boxing Super Series final showdown against IBF/WBA holder Murat Gassiev.
Should the unbeaten 31-year-old southpaw be successful in winning all four belts outright, then Bellew would welcome a showdown against the Ukrainian.
"Me and Usyk is a good fight. It's a fight I can win," Bellew (30-2-1, 20 KOs) told Boxing Scene after declaring he would "100%" be interested in fighting the man he sparred with as an amateur.
"I'm under no illusions. I'll be honest, because it's a dangerous fight. It's a fight that I'm going to have to take a lot of stick in. But I believe I cop him with something.
"The thing is with Oleksandr is I've sparred him in the amateurs. He's an amazing fighter but he's not scared of getting hit. I definitely think I could catch him with something real big. I don't want to blow my own trumpet but I'm a really good finisher. When I get a guy hurt they don't see the rest of the fight out."
And that was evidently the case in his last two fights, at heavyweight, both against Haye. Since the rematch Bellew has been enjoying some downtime with his family, and is thoroughly looking forward to his wedding in July when he will marry his long-time partner Rachael.
Although he has been back in the gym lifting weights and doing some swimming, Bellew's hands aren't ready to punch yet. So instead of hitting punch bags he's been hitting golf balls.
"I shouldn't say I play golf what I do is I swing clubs at balls, that's what I do," said the former WBC Cruiserweight champion.
"I'm just trying to live normal as possible. No need to worry about what I've gotta do. Just spending time at home with the family and the missus and chilling out."
Having won his world title at Goodison Park, the home of his beloved Everton Football Club, defended it and then finished his rivalry with David Haye, Bellew finds himself in a position where he doesn't need to fight again. That's not say he doesn't want to, but it has to be something - as has been the case in a few of his fights - that he is given no chance of winning.
"I ain't gonna say I'm retired, because I ain't. But what I will say is it'll take something huge to drag me out of bed to start punching people again. I ain't going into any fight where I'm favourite. It's got to be something where everyone writes me off again. " he explained.
"I'm at the stage where I'm not getting any younger, and I ain't going to make the mistake that the older fighters made. I've always said, and I'll stand by the statement, I will retire from boxing -- boxing will not retire me."
Since Bellew's five round mauling of David Haye on May 5 there has been plenty of talk doing the rounds as to who the 35-year-old would fight next.
Ward and Fury appear top of the wish-list but another name that Bellew wouldn't say no to is Oleksandr Usyk. As things stand the WBC/WBO cruiserweight champion is still waiting on a date for his World Boxing Super Series final showdown against IBF/WBA holder Murat Gassiev.
Should the unbeaten 31-year-old southpaw be successful in winning all four belts outright, then Bellew would welcome a showdown against the Ukrainian.
"Me and Usyk is a good fight. It's a fight I can win," Bellew (30-2-1, 20 KOs) told Boxing Scene after declaring he would "100%" be interested in fighting the man he sparred with as an amateur.
"I'm under no illusions. I'll be honest, because it's a dangerous fight. It's a fight that I'm going to have to take a lot of stick in. But I believe I cop him with something.
"The thing is with Oleksandr is I've sparred him in the amateurs. He's an amazing fighter but he's not scared of getting hit. I definitely think I could catch him with something real big. I don't want to blow my own trumpet but I'm a really good finisher. When I get a guy hurt they don't see the rest of the fight out."
And that was evidently the case in his last two fights, at heavyweight, both against Haye. Since the rematch Bellew has been enjoying some downtime with his family, and is thoroughly looking forward to his wedding in July when he will marry his long-time partner Rachael.
Although he has been back in the gym lifting weights and doing some swimming, Bellew's hands aren't ready to punch yet. So instead of hitting punch bags he's been hitting golf balls.
"I shouldn't say I play golf what I do is I swing clubs at balls, that's what I do," said the former WBC Cruiserweight champion.
"I'm just trying to live normal as possible. No need to worry about what I've gotta do. Just spending time at home with the family and the missus and chilling out."
Having won his world title at Goodison Park, the home of his beloved Everton Football Club, defended it and then finished his rivalry with David Haye, Bellew finds himself in a position where he doesn't need to fight again. That's not say he doesn't want to, but it has to be something - as has been the case in a few of his fights - that he is given no chance of winning.
"I ain't gonna say I'm retired, because I ain't. But what I will say is it'll take something huge to drag me out of bed to start punching people again. I ain't going into any fight where I'm favourite. It's got to be something where everyone writes me off again. " he explained.
"I'm at the stage where I'm not getting any younger, and I ain't going to make the mistake that the older fighters made. I've always said, and I'll stand by the statement, I will retire from boxing -- boxing will not retire me."
oh come on mate, its only fair he'd look at the one out of two top 2 cruisers who isn't such a lights-out puncher, even I wouldn't criticise him for that, in fact if he took an Usyk fight I'd have to take back a few things I have said.