Former two division champion Tony Bellew believes Oleksandr Usyk will have a lot of success in the heavyweight division.
But, he does not expect him to beat two of the three top guys at the weight - WBC champion Tyson Fury and WBA, IBO, IBF, WBO champion Anthony Joshua.
Usyk unified the entire cruiserweight division back in 2018, and then moved up to the heavyweight division - making his debut in the new weight class in October, when he stopped
In the fall of 2018, Bellew was knocked out by Usyk. It was the final fight of Bellew's career and the last cruiserweight fight for Usyk.
At the moment Usyk is the WBO's mandatory challenger to Joshua.
The Olympic gold medal winner from Ukraine is scheduled to face Derek Chisora on a date to be determined. He wants to face Joshua next - after the British star is done with the IBF's mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev.
“[Usyk’s] a brilliant fighter,” Bellew told Colin Murray’s 52 podcast.
“People always ask me ‘how will he do as a heavyweight’ so let’s just get down to it. I think he will beat every single heavyweight out there besides two and they are the big boys.
“I don’t think he is big enough to beat AJ and I don’t think he is big enough to beat Tyson Fury. The only thing that can beat him is size. Don’t get me wrong, when he fights AJ I think he’ll be ahead, but then I think AJ will get to him and work him down and gradually he will get there. When it comes to Tyson Fury, he just won’t be allowed to get close enough. Fury is that big.”
Fury had previously stated that he doesn't have any interest in facing Usyk.
“No. Usyk ain’t on the list, he’s a no-name, no-one’s interested and it doesn’t make any money,“ Fury said to IFL TV.
“So what would I wanna fight him for? He’s a small cruiserweight, foreigner, don’t speak good English, and nobody’s really interested anyway, he’s not setting anything alight. I want the big fights people are interested in and that ain’t one of them.”