Tony Bellew has revealed the one fighter that he believes will step into the shoes of undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk cemented his status as the best heavyweight of his generation back in July when he stopped Daniel Dubois in the 5th round of their historic showdown at Wembley Stadium in London.
The 38-year-old from Ukraine has produced a number of career-defining victories during his tenure, defeating the likes of Derek Chisora, Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury to name just a few. He also stopped Bellew in his final fight at cruiserweight.
In a recent interview with Football Blog, Bellew made no mistake in backing Moses Itauma to replace Usyk when he eventually walks away from the sport, as he claims the unbeaten Brit will ‘clean up’ the division.
“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.”
Itauma has had an outstanding start to his professional career where he has defeated all 13 of the opponents he has crossed paths with since making his debut back in January of 2023.
The 21-year-old from Kent is set to make his much-anticipated return to the ring against America’s Jermaine Franklin at the Coop Live Arena in Manchester on Saturday January 24.
