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Oleksandr Usyk and Tony Bellew have talked plenty, have gone through the negotiations, and now we have a fight. Usyk will defend his cruiserweight championship, all four major belts, on November 10 in Manchester against Bellew, who moves back down from a two-fight stint at heavyweight.
Usyk (15-0, 11 KO) is coming off of a great run in the World Boxing Super Series, where he beat Marco Huck, Mairis Briedis, and Murat Gassiev to win the tournament and unify all four cruiserweight title belts.
Bellew (30-2-1, 20 KO) is a bigger star than he’s ever been after two straight stoppage wins over David Haye.
“I’ve been preparing for this fight for a long time and I’m delighted that we’ve got the venue and the date finalized — I cannot wait to fight in the UK,” said Usyk. “I am deep into my training camp with my team, working hard and preparing for a long fight with Tony. He says he will beat me and I love his attitude, but you cannot beat up somebody who is invisible in the ring! As always, I will be victorious on November 10.”
K2 Promotions’ Alex Krassyuk added, “All of our focus is on Tony Bellew and November 10 but once Usyk defeats him he will be targeting the king of the heavyweight division, Anthony Joshua.”
“This is the ultimate test for me,” said Bellew. “There is no greater test than Oleksandr Usyk, he is one of the most feared men in boxing. This is nothing new to me, everyone says that I can’t do it again. Everyone is saying that I’ll get beat up quickly, but we’ll find out won’t we?
“Make no mistake, I know this is the most dangerous fight of my life but I’m also going into this with my eyes wide open, I’m not in awe of Usyk. I won’t stand and admire him and allow him to rattle off five-punch combinations on my head.”
“It’s an absolute honour to promote Britain’s first ever undisputed title fight in the history of the sport,” said promoter Eddie Hearn. “This one of the biggest and best fights in boxing with Tony Bellew daring to be great against one of the top pound-for-pounders in the sport in Oleksandr Usyk.”
The fight will air on Sky Box Office in the United Kingdom and stream live on DAZN in the United States.