Despite sharing the ring with David Haye and Oleksandr Usyk, former cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew has named the one fighter who he believes had more skill than both.
‘Bomber’ Bellew shared the ring with Haye on two occasions in what went on to be one of the most intense rivalries that British boxing has ever seen. Despite going into their first fight as an underdog, the 42-year-old from Liverpool silenced the doubters with an emphatic eleventh round stoppage victory over Haye in March 2017.
Their rematch took place just over one year later, with Bellew once again putting on an impressive performance to stop ‘The Hayemaker’ – albeit clearly injured – in the fifth round to put an end to their bitter rivalry and claim bragging rights over the two-weight world champion.
Bellew returned to the ring six months later to challenge Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed cruiserweight championship. Despite the best efforts of the Brit, the technical brilliance of the Ukrainian proved to be too much, as he scored the stoppage in the eighth round.
In a shock admission made in an interview with DAZN, Bellew revealed former super middleweight champion James DeGale as the most skillful fighter he ever faced, despite sharing the ring with both Haye and Usyk during his tenure.
“Usyk was up there but I’ve got to say my old mate, James DeGale. Me and ‘Chunky’ were close all the way through our careers and I’d sparred him when we were both amateurs and also when I needed tough southpaw sparring. He could do it all in the ring and he was as tough as anything too.”
DeGale captured the IBF super middleweight title on two occasions during his career, as well as Olympic gold at the 2008 games in Beijing. The career of ‘Chunky’ was full of plenty of ups and downs, although he is still regarded as one of the most decorated British fighters in recent times.
