Tony Bellew to Oleksandr Usyk: ‘I was born ready’

Tony Bellew said he wanted to fight the winner of the cruiserweight World Boxing Super Series. Yesterday, after beating Murat Gassiev, Oleksandr Usyk called Bellew out.

Bellew was quick to respond via Twitter:

Bellew (30-2-1, 20 KO) won a cruiserweight title in 2016, stopping Junior Makabu in the third round, and made one defense against BJ Flores about five months later. But in his last two, he’s fought at heavyweight against David Haye, winning both fights by TKO and making himself a hot property in the sport at age 35.

Usyk (15-0, 11 KO) said he’s willing to fight Bellew at heavyweight, which is probably a move in his future either way, considering he’s done all he can do at cruiserweight.

We’ll see how this all shakes out. Bellew has previously said it would take something big to get him back into the ring after the victories over Haye. Even if both are willing, the deal will still have to be right. But for the moment, it looks good.