‘Oleksandr Usyk will win every round if Tyson Fury presses him’

Tony Bellew believes Oleksandr Usyk will win every round if Tyson Fury chooses to press the action when the pair meet in their rematch on Saturday.

The first encounter between Usyk and Fury was stylistically surprising. Many expected Fury to use his huge size and weight advantage to overpower the smaller Ukrainian, but it was Usyk who took the fight to Fury. Usyk hurt Fury badly in the ninth round and almost forced a stoppage before the Englishman was saved by the bell.

Bellew, who lost by technical knockout in Usyk’s final contest at cruiserweight in 2018, believes that if Usyk uses similar tactics in the rematch, then they will not have the same effect on Fury.

“I have no idea what happens [in the rematch],” Bellew told BoxingScene. “Because I thought Usyk would win the first time, but I never in a million years anticipated he’d win the way he won. I never thought he could push him back like that.

“Do I think he can do it in the rematch? If he chooses to push him back again in the rematch, he won’t catch him by surprise because he 100% took Tyson Fury by surprise. This time he won’t be able to do that.”

Fury has been vocal about how he plans to switch things up for the rematch. He believes that he cannot rely on the judges and that he must press for a knockout. Bellew thinks that if what Fury says is true, then the fight only ends in one way.

“I do believe if [Usyk] goes on the back foot, he wins every single round,” said Bellew. “He’s the hardest man in the world to hit. If you let Oleksandr Usyk go on the back foot and you press him all night, you’re in trouble, you’re not going to catch him.

“Just watch the Murat Gassiev fight,” said Bellew, citing Usyk’s virtual shutout victory over the feared power-punching Gassiev, who struggled to land anything of consequence, “and you’ll understand that’s why I chose to box him. Chasing him is the worst thing in the world you could do.”