Tony Bellew says ‘freak’ Oleksandr Usyk is just as talented as fellow countryman Vasyl Lomachenko and a nightmare in the ring.
However, the ‘Bomber’ has backed compatriot Anthony Joshua to solve the puzzle presented to him on Saturday night and finish the heavyweight fight late.
Joshua will out his WBA, WBO and IBF titles on the line at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against the undefeated Ukrainian superstar.
Having dominated at cruiserweight and collected every trinket in his path, Usyk made the decision to move up to heavyweight and made his debut in 2019.
In just his third fight in the division, he has the opportunity to become the unified world champion and certainly has the skills to do it.
In his last fight as a cruiserweight, the 34-year-old emphatically stopped Bellew in Manchester, although it defies his normal style of fighting.
Fleet-footed, with a razor-sharp jab and outstanding understanding of range, the former cruiserweight king is a violent chess player of the highest order. Unlike Lomachenko, there is little flash to his game – simply perfect execution.
And while some sceptics have questioned whether or not he lacks the physicality to trouble a fighter as powerful and strong as 6ft 6ins Joshua, ‘The Bomber’ can confirm firsthand it will be a tough night for the Brit.
“He hits enough to get your respect,” Bellew said. “It’s not like you’re just going to walk through him.
“It’s not going to be that easy and he also sets traps that don’t allow you to do that. But you can hit his body and tire him as well.
“You’ve got to make him engage mentally; he is so far ahead of everyone mentally in the game, he doesn’t tire.
“I was amazed! I thought what I was doing to him in the fight was making him miss and then countering him, and I expected him to tire.
“And the freak didn’t tire, he just kept getting stronger and stronger. Mate, he is unbelievable, I can’t emphasise enough how good he is.
“I’ve faced world champions, I’ve beaten world champions and he is an amazing fighter and a brilliant specimen.”
“Everyone wants to rave and go on about his stablemate Vasyl Lomachenko,” he added.
“But they go on about him because he makes it look great, what he does. Oleksandr Usyk just foes the basics and just does them so well, he doesn’t make a song and dance about it, everyone doesn’t really rave on him as much as they do.
“Believe me when I say, he is every bit as good as good as him.”
Despite earning 13 stoppages from his 18 wins, Usyk is not renowned for bludgeoning opponents, rather breaking them down and softening them up as he did with Bellew.
Under the tutelage of Anatoly Lomachenko (Vasyl’s father) the London 2012 Gold medallist has flourished into a perfect fighting machine.
Yet Joshua boasts Olympic gold of his own and has developed at a rapid rate due to the pace at which he has been pushed in his career since those Games in London nine years ago.
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Due to the boxing pedigree on display, Bellew believes there will be a feeling out process at first, before Joshua takes over the fight.
“It’s pretty clear he [Usyk] not going to try and go in there and blast him out, that’s not in his arsenal,” he said.
“What is in his arsenal is fantastic judgement of distance and an amazing set of feet. He will have to try to frustrate AJ, counter everything he does.
“But AJ’s plan will be to hit him often and hit him hard, simple as that, and just get on him. You can’t go in the water without getting wet.
“AJ knows there will be times when he is going to get hit, when it is difficult for him, but ultimately he will come through in the second half of the fight, I think.
“He will find a way to figure out Oleksandr Usyk and show again why he is the best heavyweight in the world.”