The Monster Is Definitely The Real Deal!

The picture-perfect knockout of Tony Bellew reinforced beyond doubt that the Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion Usyk is pound for pound one of the best fighters in the world who will add another dimension to the Heavyweight scene.

Despite being behind by a round on two of the Judge’s scorecards going into the 8^th round, there was an air of eventuality that Usyk would stop Bellew who had shown signs of fatigue beforehand in what was a fast-paced contest in which Bellew had early success in the first 4 rounds.  Usyk’s razor-like jab started to land more frequently along with his murderous left hand which stopped Bellew in his tracks right at the end of the 6^th round which visibly wobbled the challenger.

The end of the fight was brutal and a candidate for knockout of the year in which a flush left followed by another  left hook had Bellew almost through the ropes into Promotor Eddie Hearn’s hands who instinctively thought but resisted the idea of helping Bellew back onto his feet.   Before the Referee could finish his count, Bellew was clearly in no fit state to continue and the dream of relinquishing Usyk from his Cruiserweight titles was over.

Usyk will now look at being a major player in the Heavyweight division in 2019 and will attempt to follow in the footsteps of Former Cruiserweight Champions Evander Holyfield and David Haye by becoming Heavyweight Champion.

Usyk with an overall record of 335 amateur fights with only 15 losses, has previously won everything there is to win in the amateur ranks having won Olympic gold as a Heavyweight in the 2012 London games along with gold in the Baku World Championships of 2011.  Becoming Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion after 15 professional fights is also a world record.

The obvious pedigree of Usyk makes him a major contender for a world title fight in 2019 with Eddie Hearn predicting that Usyk could be a possible Anthony Joshua opponent towards the end of 2019.

Will the extra weight be a major problem for Usyk?  The body frame of the Ukrainian at 6ft. 3 inches would suggest not in which he would need to increase his weight by at least a stone from his current fighting weight of 14 stone 4lbs.  However a modern Heavyweight such as Anthony Joshua weighs as much as 18 stone while WBC Champion Deontay Wilder’s fighting weight is much closer to Usyk weighing around 16 stone.

It’ll be intriguing to find out whether Usyk can reach the heights of World Heavyweight Champion which with isn’t as impossible as some may think from what we’ve seen so far from “The Monster” so far in 16 fights.