Tony Bellew thinks there is only one man with any realistic chance of beating Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk is now a two-time undisputed world heavyweight champion. He is the only man in history to ever achieve that feat in the four belt era, and has also been undisputed down at cruiserweight.
In reality, he has barely ever been troubled in any of his professional fights. Daniel Dubois thought he had him down from a body shot that was immediately ruled low by the referee when they fought in August 2023.
He fought ‘DDD’ again this past weekend and this time got the job done much quicker by putting the IBF champion down twice in round five to bring about an early end.
He has also twice beaten Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, which has left people wondering where he can find his next challenge.
Speaking to talkSPORT Boxing, Bellew was asked who might present the most difficult night for Usyk.
“People won’t like this but the person who gives him the best fight is Tyson Fury, probably. People don’t like me saying that but he’s the one who’s given him the most trouble.”
He also named a second tough challenger for Usyk.
“[Fury] or ‘AJ’. The rematch with ‘AJ’, ‘AJ’ was level going into round 10.”
Usyk is strongly linked with a fight with Joseph Parker next, the WBO mandatory who has recently beaten Martin Bakole, Zhilei Zhang and Deontay Wilder.
Young up-and-coming star Moses Itauma has also been mentioned, though many believe it is too early for a man who has had only 12 fights so far.