Tony Bellew vs Oleksandr Usyk is a rare fight that guarantees an explosive, extraordinary conclusion
It is an odd fight, a fight with intense rivalry but not a single act of stupidity to aid the pay-per-view sales. It is a fight so rare that very few in attendance will have ever seen a proper four-belt unification live before
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Your support makes all the difference.It will be all over for Tony Bellew by midnight on Saturday when his final fight finishes and he makes his tearful farewell to a sport that has made him richer and happier than he could have ever dreamed.
Bellew was an outstanding amateur boxer, a product from the endless conveyor belt in Liverpool and as a young professional he beat all the men he had to beat before his boxing life got a bit harder. There were knockdowns, defeats in world title fights, a domestic rivalry and by about 2015 his career was slowing down. He had won the Commonwealth, European and British title, failed twice in world title fights - his career, at that point, had also been a success, make no mistake.
Then Bellew transformed, he was the right man in the right place, he accepted dangerous fight after dangerous fight, took control of the microphone, won when he was meant to lose and that series of fights led directly to what will be his last ever appearance as a boxer.
The respect came, the shocks came and the cash tumbled in: Bellew was big business, a throwback boxer reinventing the rules and doing what he was not meant to do. He had comedy soundbites to camouflage his cuts, bruises, broken nose and broken hand in scraps where he stood toe-to-toe with ferocious men. There was also a Rocky movie in there somewhere.
It all led, somehow, to Bellew fighting Oleksandr Usyk at the Manchester Arena on Saturday night for the full quartet of championship belts, a fight so rare that very few in attendance will have ever seen a proper four-belt unification live before.
Usyk is unbeaten in just 15 fights, has won versions of the world cruiserweight title against Russian, Polish and Latvian boxers in their homelands, won a gold medal at the London Olympics and a few months ago was considered the man most likely, by about 2020, to push Anthony Joshua. Then, Bellew got involved when Usyk mentioned his name. “The monster called and I answered and said “yes” to a fight,” Bellew said.
The selling of the fight was simple and made even more fun when Bellew insisted that he will never fight again. He means it, so win, lose or draw there will be tears.
“I’m done, but I just hope that he can pick up the pieces and get a world title back after I beat him,” Bellew added, showing concern for Usyk’s future post-fight. Usyk and his people seem genuinely bemused by Bellew’s antics, his plans and declarations.
It was, I have to warn, the same with David Haye in 2017. “It’s the easiest fight of my life – he can’t beat me,” Haye declared before their first fight and before he was stopped then and in the rematch, dropped in both of his fights with Bellew and then limped away to a retirement, still scratching his head and trying to figure out just how he lost both fights.
Haye, we now know, had injuries – Usyk is in perfect condition, a cold machine with wild eyes he makes no attempt to tame. Bellew calls him a monster, a fitting description and there is some truth to Usyk being able to beat his opponents before the first bell. He has been hurting men for a long time, fighting with high expectations for a long time and operating as the so-called unbeatable one for a long time.
He is, however, certainly not a creation, but very few have tried what Bellew has pledged once the first bell sounds: “I will drag him into horrible places, places he has never been and I have no fear of him – let’s see how he responds to that,” said Bellew. There was a smirk from Usyk and a then a nod from Bellew. “He makes out he doesn’t understand but he does, trust me,” added Bellew.
It is an odd fight, a fight with intense rivalry but not a single act of stupidity to aid the pay-per-view sales. Bellew’s promise that he will fight is enough now to get attention and Usyk’s raw stats, his scary calm and his eyes are not the work of an ordinary fighter, a fighter content to somehow steal the win with a sensible display of cautious boxing.
Bellew needs a bit of emotion from Usyk to create the gaps for him to throw his punches and Usyk needs Bellew to take the risks he routinely does. There might be a stand-off, a gentle process at the very start, but by about round three the softly-softly approach will be over for good. Usyk will increase the pressure with each passing minute, making points, leaving marks and Bellew will need something extraordinary.
I fear Usyk is simply too smart to lose and Bellew too brave to realise. The referee and the corner might have to do the dirty work in a fight that will not be forgotten in a hurry.
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