Tony Bellew has fought Oleksandr Usyk and has now given his view on how the newly crowned WBO world champion Fabio Wardley would get on with the generational great.
Bellew pushed Usyk to the best of his ability in last fight down at cruiserweight back in 2018, but was ultimately stopped in round nine.
Since then, the undisputed cruiserweight champion from Ukraine has moved up and cleaned out the heavyweight division, beating Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Daniel Dubois, all twice, to secure all four belts on two seperate occasions.
He recently vacated the WBO belt rather than face his mandatory, Wardley, and speaking to Froch on Fighting, ‘The Bomber’ explained why he thinks the Brit would have struggled in that fight.
“You can’t expect Fabio Wardley to challenge him. I love Fabio, I think the world of Fabio Wardley, and he’s a very good fighter.
“Listen, I thought Joseph Parker would have too much for him but he didn’t and you know why he didn’t? Cause he stayed with him every second of the way. And mate, that’s what being undefeated does for you. While you’re undefeated, you don’t know how to lose. I thought he might be losing but ultimately he stayed in there. Fabio Wardley epitomises the underdog story, but Usyk knows too much.”
For now, Wardley – who still wants to challenge Usyk for the undisputed title in future – will be looking to get a first solid defence of his belt locked in, having found out he was the new WBO world champion while he was at an airport, miles away from a boxing ring.
He has said he is keen on facing someone like Anthony Joshua in an all-British bout at Wembley Stadium, though ‘AJ’ has his hands full. After he faces Jake Paul this weekend, he is slated to have a fight in February and then a long-awaited clash with Tyson Fury in September.
Wardley may instead fancy the likes of Daniel Dubois for a tantalising first defence. As for Usyk, he has called out Deontay Wilder.
