Tony Bellew: There Has Never Been A Heavyweight Like ‘Phenomenal’ Oleksandr Usyk

In an exclusive interview with CoinPoker, Tony Bellew has claimed that there has never been a heavyweight like Oleksandr Usyk before, labelling him as ‘phenomenal’. See the full interview below.

Q: What did you make of the Chisora vs Joyce fight? 

Tony Bellew: I thought Derek was fantastic. And he got the job done. 

Q: What do you think Chisora’s next fight is going to be? A lot of people say that is could be Zhang. 

TB: Hopefully nobody. I’m hoping that he calls it a day now. Every dog has its day and you know, he’s stayed the course and I’d like him to walk away now to be honest. 

Q: What about Joyce? What do you think is next for him?

TB: When you look at Joe Joyce, he’s built a career on resistance and resilience and that’s gone now. So the only way is down. He’s going to slide further down the pecking order. And now he’s also going to slide further down the list of opponents. So the future doesn’t look bright for someone like Joe Joyce. Hopefully, he can find his way back with international opposition. But I just doubt it very much.

Q: Terence Crawford vs Israil Madrimov is the next biggest fight on the cards, how do you think that’s going to play out? 

TB: It’s a really good fight. I envisage it going 12 rounds because Madrimov is so heavy, so much heavier and bigger than anyone Crawford’s faced. But I don’t think size will be enough to defeat Terence Crawford. You’re gonna have to have a bit of a fair bit of ability as well. I think it’ll be more competitive than people think, but I still think Crawford wins, by unanimous decision.

Q: And then (Andy) Ruiz is facing (Jarrell) Miller on the same card. How do you think Miller will bounce back after a tough few years?

TB: Ruiz beats Miller all day. Miller’s just a huge mattress with arms. So yeah, I think Andy Ruiz wins all day. I think the shape Miller gets in, Miller wants to brag about being so, what’s the word I’m looking for? He’s so resilient. His defence is terrible, but he brags on how tough he is and how durable he is. But ultimately, that’s no good if you’re not winning fights. We can all be durable at times. If you want to come to win, then you’ve got to work and fight. But he just comes, and he’s just like a huge mattress with arms.

Like I said before, I don’t rate him. I don’t give him virtually any chance against Andy Ruiz. As long as Andy Ruiz turns up and is in half decent shape, Andy Ruiz beats Jarrell Miller up all day. 

Q: What do you think about Ruiz for the next couple of years? Do you think he can get back to the top?

TB: For someone like Andy Ruiz, it’s all about how much you want it. And that’s the big question for someone like Andy Ruiz. We’ve seen what happened when Andy Ruiz got to the top of the mountain. He fell off because he was lazy and greedy and he wanted to live that superstar lifestyle without continuing to work hard.

It’s like he got to the top and forgot how he got there. But, he’s never going to be that masterful boxer Andy Ruiz. Andy Ruiz is going to be that tough guy, who comes to fight. But I just feel he falls short every time at the highest level. 

Q: And have you been watching the GB boxing team at the Olympics?

TB: I haven’t seen much. No.

Q: All four have been eliminated apparently so far. 

TB: Well, that’s very rare because Robert McCracken is the greatest GB Coach in the history of boxing. He’s won more Olympic gold medals than anyone previously.  So that’s a hard one to take, to be honest.

Q: What do you think about Delicious Orie’s potential?

TB: I think he’s a big boy, he’s a big boy. He’s good looking. And he can fight, so he’ll do well. If you’re going out to the Olympics at the first time of asking in the first round then you’ve got a long way back because it’s going to be very hard to be honest.

Q: What do you make of Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois bout? 

TB: I think the Joshua/Dubois fight looks really good. But I think Anthony Joshua knocks Daniel Dubois out inside three rounds. Everything that Daniel Dubois does good, Anthony Joshua does better. So Daniel Dubois is a strong puncher. He’s heavy handed. Anthony Joshua is stronger and faster. The only thing we can’t really question Daniel Dubois on is his resilience.

Once again, I thought he showed extreme amounts of bravery and toughness against Filip Hrgovic. But Filip Hrgovic hitting you with the right hand and Anthony Joshua hitting you with the right hand are two totally different things. He got hit with 45 right hands in four rounds against Filip Hrgovic. He’ll get hit with three against Anthony Joshua and he’ll wake up in an ambulance. 

And that’s the difference in heavyweight boxing. There’s real punches and then there’s 50-50 punches. Filip Hrgovic is a 50-50 puncher in the heavyweight division. Anthony Joshua has dynamite in his gloves. Don’t get me wrong, Daniel Dubois’s a puncher too, so he does have a puncher’s chance, but I rate the round at 70-30, 80-20 in Joshua’s favour. 

Q: You know how tough Oleksandr Usyk is. Are you surprised how he’s walking through a lot of the top heavyweight division?

TB: No, not at all. Not surprised at all. You have to understand, the boxing IQ and the intelligence of the boy has not been seen in the heavyweight division before. I told everyone who’d listened what he’d do to Tyson Fury. Tyson Fury has never faced a boxer anywhere near as good as Oleksandr Usyk with footwork as good as Oleksandr Usyk.

Q: Who does Usyk remind you of?

TB: There’s never been a fighter like Oleksandr Usyk in the heavyweight division before. People will make likenesses to the likes of Michael Moorer, but there’s still never been a heavyweight. Someone like Michael Moorer, Chris Byrd, people will make them likenesses purely because he’s a Southpaw. But ultimately, there has been no one like Oleksandr Usyk before. And my opinion is you’ll never see no one like him again, because this is what the heavyweight division is now. It’s the land of the giants, and for him to compete and beat the giants is phenomenal.

Q: Who’s on your Mount Rushmore of boxing, top four or five fighters?

TB: Oleksandr Usyk. Terence Crawford. Naoya Inoue, Canelo Alvarez, followed by Tank (Gervonta) Davis. 

Q: Jake Paul just beat Mike Perry and he’s got the (Mike) Tyson fight going ahead in November. What’s your verdict? 

TB: It’s not that I’ve been such a critic of it, it’s just down to the fact that he’s fighting a man who’s a grandfather. Which is very, very frightening.  And that’s my only real worry, to be honest. I just hope Mike remains safe. I get why it’s happening. Money makes the world go round. But ultimately, it’s very, very sad why Jake Paul wants to do this. 

Q: He’s on quite a bit of a win streak now, Jake Paul. Who do you think could stop him? 

TB: A win streak against doodoo though, let’s be honest. I mean, as he’s faced one professional boxer and lost. And even that’s a dubious call when I say ‘professional’ boxer. 

Q: Is that what you think his game plan is? Just to fight a lot of people that he knows he could probably beat?

TB: Let’s just be honest, his game plan is to make as much money as possible. Yeah. 

Q: You don’t think he’s in it for the legacy?  

TB: Legacy? Legacy of what? He’s facing guys who are YouTubers? 

Q: Jake talks about wanting to leave a legacy in Boxing, do you think he could be a champion one day?

TB: If you say he wants a legacy, just face a real fighter. 

Q: Do you think a retired Tony Bellew could beat Jake Paul?

TB: I’m 41. I’m a tub of lard. But, I’d have him in about two rounds. And the only reason it had lasted two rounds was because I’d been p*ssing myself laughing for the first one.