By Luke Furman

Former cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellew (30-2-1, 20 KOs) is the poster boy for career recovery - as he managed to make himself a major name in the sport in the aftermath of getting knocked out by WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson in 2013.

Not long after that contest, Bellew moved up to the cruiserweight division, where he eventually fought his way to the WBC cruiserweight title.

"I'm successful because I no longer have to make the 175-pound limit. I was no longer able to do that and it was very painful to respect that limit for my fight against Stevenson. During this duel, he was the best man in the ring during that night. He is a very good boxer. On the other hand, with what I have demonstrated over the past five years, I think I lost because I was completely dehydrated," Stevenson said to The Montreal Journal.

After five years, that was the last mandatory challenger that Stevenson faced. Stevenson faces mandatory challenger Oleksandr Gvozdyk in December.

He agrees with the criticism that Stevenson faced.

"It's a shame that Stevenson is not more active and does not face the best in his division. He did not lose to Badou Jack in his last fight, but the fight was very close," Bellew said.

"It would be interesting for Stevenson to face other 175-pound champions, or to finally face Sergey Kovalev. On the other hand, if he decided to climb up from light heavyweight, something I do not advise him to do - I would send him to the mat in three rounds."

After heading to cruiserweight and winning a title, Bellew moved up to heavyweight and picked up back to back knockout wins over David Haye.

Now Bellew is moving back to cruiserweight to challenge the unified king of the division, Oleksandr Usyk (15-0, 11 KOs), on November 11 in England.

"It's a huge challenge," said Bellew. "As I announced last month, this will be my last fight and it's a great opportunity to finish it at the top.

"Unlike other boxers, I do not intend to stretch my career unnecessarily. "

Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org.