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Boxing

14th Sep 2018

Tony Bellew’s next fight confirmed, and it’s far from easy

The Scouser is a considerable underdog

Darragh Murphy

Tony Bellew can’t be accused of picking an easy fight here.

Bellew is set to return to cruiserweight for the toughest bout on the table as he has agreed to challenge undefeated Ukrainian fighter Oleksandr Usyk on November 10.

Manchester Arena will host the clash between Bellew and one of the pound-for-pound greatest fighters in the world.

All the world cruiserweight titles will be on the line and Bellew is considered a significant underdog against the terrifying Usyk, who won the World Boxing Super Series final in July.

‘Bomber’ most recently competed at heavyweight for his pair of grudge matches against David Haye and came out on top on both occasions.

The Liverpudlian held the WBC cruiserweight belt before his all-British showdowns with Haye and he is set to return to his more comfortable weight class in the hope of cementing his legacy and bringing a halt to the Usyk hype train.

“This is the ultimate test for me,” said Bellew. “There is no greater test than Oleksandr Usyk, he is one of the most feared men in boxing. This is nothing new to me, everyone says that I can’t do it again. Everybody is saying that I’ll get beat up quickly, but we’ll find out won’t we.

“Make no mistake, I know this is the most dangerous fight of my life, but I’m also going into this with my eyes wide open, I’m not in awe of Oleksandr Usyk. I won’t stand and admire him and allow him to rattle off five-punch combinations on my head.

“He’s meeting someone now who’s just as quick as him, someone that’s competed at a division lighter than him and someone that’s come across fighters much more powerful than him.

“I’m going into this fight with absolutely nothing to lose because the whole world thinks I’m going to get smashed. I have everything to gain and nothing to lose. On November 10, I’m going to do something that nobody has ever done before, I’m going to knock out an undisputed cruiserweight champion of the world.”

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