MANCHESTER, England -- After winning the World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight tournament, the coveted Muhammad Ali trophy, and becoming the undisputed cruiserweight champion of the world, Oleksandr Usyk (15-0, 11 KOs) will yet again face a big challenge. On Nov. 10 Usyk will step in the ring against former cruiserweight champion and recent heavyweight contender Tony Bellew (30-2-1, 20 KOs). The fight will stream live on DAZN and Usyk's WBC, IBF, WBA, and WBO cruiserweight titles will be on the line.
Usyk is an intriguing mix of skills and power. He isn't an overwhelming puncher but that is mainly due to the fact that he doesn't always sit down on his punches. Instead he likes to control fights from the outside with his movement and accuracy. When Usyk does sit down on his punches though, they can certainly do damage. He has an excellent jab and fights out of the southpaw stance. Usyk will often follow that jab with a strong straight left hand and he also excels at landing uppercuts with the left hand. Making him even more dangerous is the fact that he also has a good right hook and is skilled defensively. His movement allows him to avoid too much punishment and throughout his career he has always shown a strong chin.
Like many other fighters from Ukraine, Usyk got a late start to his professional career. Yet from the beginning Usyk has known nothing but success. Only one time in his career did he not win a fight by the way of knockout or unanimous decision. That was a fight against Mairis Briedis in early 2018 which he won by the way of majority decision. Among Usyk's other victims are Murat Gassiev, Marco Huck, and Krzysztof Glowacki just to name a few. It was really the win against Gassiev that propelled Usyk to the top of the sport and he's even mentioned challenging himself in the heavyweight division, which makes the fight against Bellew even more intriguing.
Despite having fought as a heavyweight, Bellew actually gives up a reach advantage to Usyk and the two pugilists are the same height. Bellew fights out of the orthodox stance and he likes to mix things up. At times he actually seems like two different fighters. At his best, Bellew is shooting an accurate jab and following it up nicely with a strong right hand. His best punch though is his left hook and that punch, when it lands clean, can do serious damage. However, the other Bellew gets much more wild with his punches. His jab can get lazy and his power punches get wild and he can't afford to fight like that against a supremely skilled Usyk. Another knock on Bellew has been his chin. He has been dropped a few times in his career and was badly stopped as a light heavyweight against Adonis Stevenson.
Bellew began his career as a light heavyweight and put together a nice run before dropping a majority decision to Nathan Cleverly. He then worked his way back to contention and took on Isaac Chilemba twice, first fighting to a draw, and then beating him in their rematch. Things fell apart for Bellew in 2013 when he was destroyed by Stevenson, after which he moved up to the cruiserweight division. Bellew found his most success as a cruiserweight, winning a vacant world title and then successfully defending it once in a fight against BJ Flores. Following his victory over a nearly 40-year-old Flores, Bellew moved up to the heavyweight division and beat a well past his prime, and often injured David Haye. Against Usyk, Bellew will face his toughest test arguably since his lopsided loss to Stevenson.
All the pressure will be on Usyk in this fight. Not only is he the undisputed cruiserweight champion bringing all the belts to the ring, but he also has a bright future that would dim with a loss to Bellew. Bellew is has already announced that he plans to retire after the Usyk fight so he can really leave it all in the ring. However, it is often the case that a fighter who announces that they plan to retire already has a fought out the door. Look for Bellew to try and finish this fight early. Expect him to come out aggressive and try to land a power shot that might end things. Meanwhile, Usyk should look to do what he usually does, control the fight with his jab, accurate punching, and movement. With his mix of skills and power Usyk could box his way to a decision win or gun for the knockout late and it will be interesting to see which path he picks.
PREDICTION: Tony Bellew has already announced his retirement plans and that should only make things easier for Oleksandr Usyk. Usyk is a vastly better fighter than Bellew and he will easily control this fight for as long as he wants to. Usyk will dominate the early and middle rounds before ultimately stopping Bellew in the ninth round.
 |
| Usyk celebrating his World Boxing Super Series victory |
Like many other fighters from Ukraine, Usyk got a late start to his professional career. Yet from the beginning Usyk has known nothing but success. Only one time in his career did he not win a fight by the way of knockout or unanimous decision. That was a fight against Mairis Briedis in early 2018 which he won by the way of majority decision. Among Usyk's other victims are Murat Gassiev, Marco Huck, and Krzysztof Glowacki just to name a few. It was really the win against Gassiev that propelled Usyk to the top of the sport and he's even mentioned challenging himself in the heavyweight division, which makes the fight against Bellew even more intriguing.
Despite having fought as a heavyweight, Bellew actually gives up a reach advantage to Usyk and the two pugilists are the same height. Bellew fights out of the orthodox stance and he likes to mix things up. At times he actually seems like two different fighters. At his best, Bellew is shooting an accurate jab and following it up nicely with a strong right hand. His best punch though is his left hook and that punch, when it lands clean, can do serious damage. However, the other Bellew gets much more wild with his punches. His jab can get lazy and his power punches get wild and he can't afford to fight like that against a supremely skilled Usyk. Another knock on Bellew has been his chin. He has been dropped a few times in his career and was badly stopped as a light heavyweight against Adonis Stevenson.
 |
| Bellew punishing David Haye with a strong right hand |
All the pressure will be on Usyk in this fight. Not only is he the undisputed cruiserweight champion bringing all the belts to the ring, but he also has a bright future that would dim with a loss to Bellew. Bellew is has already announced that he plans to retire after the Usyk fight so he can really leave it all in the ring. However, it is often the case that a fighter who announces that they plan to retire already has a fought out the door. Look for Bellew to try and finish this fight early. Expect him to come out aggressive and try to land a power shot that might end things. Meanwhile, Usyk should look to do what he usually does, control the fight with his jab, accurate punching, and movement. With his mix of skills and power Usyk could box his way to a decision win or gun for the knockout late and it will be interesting to see which path he picks.
PREDICTION: Tony Bellew has already announced his retirement plans and that should only make things easier for Oleksandr Usyk. Usyk is a vastly better fighter than Bellew and he will easily control this fight for as long as he wants to. Usyk will dominate the early and middle rounds before ultimately stopping Bellew in the ninth round.
Comments
Post a Comment