Tony Bellew thinks he knows who will go on to rule the heavyweight division once Oleksandr Usyk finally hangs up his gloves.
Back in 2024, for the first time in 25 years, the banner division had one undisputed ruler when Oleksandr Usyk beat Tyson Fury on points. It was a superb display that came after he had already twice beaten Antony Joshua and once stopped Daniel Dubois on his way to clearing up all the belts.
Later in 2024, he did it again when he beat Fury for a second time, then went to recapture the IBF belt from Dubois that he had vacated to make him history’s first ever two-time undisputed champion in the four-belt era.
This year, a new contender has emerged with Moses Itauma, and many think he is already ready for Usyk. The 20-year-old has fast hands, great ring IQ and plenty of punching power, having stopped 11 of his 13 opponents so far.
Speaking to Football Blog, Bellew predicted big things for Itauma once the current pound-for-pound king retires.
“Oleksandr Usyk’s just going to walk away into the sunset, and he’s going to go ‘I’ve had enough.’ When he does, you will find them all scavenged towards the belts, and then you will find lesser champions and then somebody else will come along.
“Hence, Moses Itauma, and he will clean up again. And then you will have a reigning, undisputed unified champion again. But he will have to go through his first year of sh*t. And it will be sh*t.”
Last time out, Itauma knocked out Dillian Whyte inside the first two minutes and is now looking to fight again before the end of the year, with Kubrat Pulev strongly linked before he then announced he would fight Murat Gassiev instead.
