Tony Bellew vs Oleksandr Usyk: Brit says he has nothing to fear and defends record ahead of title fight

Bellew says his record means he has nothing to fear against the unified cruiserweight champion

Taking on the undefeated and undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, who recently added the Muhammad Ali trophy to his impressive collection after winning the World Boxing Super series, is a sizeable task for someone who has not fought at cruiserweight for over two years. Or at least it should be.

Tony Bellew says he has “no fear” ahead of their 10 November WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO title fight, despite Usyk’s impressive 15-0 record, 11 by way of knockout.

“The only thing I can say is – out of all the opponents he’s faced, I am the only one who when he looks into my eyes, I will not be in awe of him. I have no fear of him,” Bellew told Sky Sports.

“I have 100 per cent belief that I’m going to take him apart. Out of all the guys he’s faced, none of the other guys believed that. They just don’t believe it, and I’m crazy enough to believe it.

“I have more knockouts than Oleksandr Usyk has fights,” said the 35-year-old. “While Oleksandr Usyk is a former amateur world champion, a former Olympic gold medallist, a current world champion, a current undisputed world champion, there are still some things that he hasn’t experienced in the professional ranks.”

With four weeks to go, Bellew has lost over 30lbs since the beginning of his training camp as he continues to cut down to the 200lbs cruiserweight limit after beating former heavyweight champion David Haye in May.

Oleksandr Usyk is the overwhelming betting favourite to beat Bellew (Getty)

Usyk is the clear cruiserweight number one, but Bellew believes that the Ukrainian would suffer if he were to get hurt early on.

“There are some things that he’s going to experience in the first round when he faces me. We’ll just see how it plays out," said Bellew.

“Has Oleksandr Usyk ever had to get up from a knockdown? Has Oleksandr Usyk ever had to come through a horrendous cut?

“He has had to come back from being behind on points, to be fair, because I had him behind in the [Mairis] Briedis fight. He was down four-two on the cards after six rounds against Mairis Briedis, but he found a way back, and mainly because Mairis Briedis took his foot off the gas and tired rapidly.

“But there’s a reason why he tired rapidly. These guys don’t look at the fight game and the boxing world in the same way as I do.”