By Scott Gilfoid: Eddie Hearn says he had a good meeting with the promoter for cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk this week about a fight between him and Tony Bellew. Usyk (15-0, 11 KOs) holds the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO cruiserweight titles after beating IBF/WBA champion Murat Gassiev last June in the World Boxing Super Series final.
By Scott Gilfoid: The working date for cruiserweight showdown between IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO champion Aleksandr Usyk (15-0, 11 KOs) and Tony Bellew (30-2-1, 20 KOs) is November 10 in UK, according to his Tony’s promoter Eddie Hearn.
By Tim Royner: After his 12 round unanimous decision win over Murat Gassiev in their big unification fight on July 21, the World Boxing Organization has made Aleksandr Usyk their ‘Super Champion,’ at cruiserweight, which means he’s now available to be WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua’s mandatory challenger once he moves up in weight to heavyweight, according to Talksport. Usyk will be given a special belt for his WBO ‘Super Champion’ status.
By Allan Fox: In what could be a sign of a pending comeback, former two division world champion Andre ‘SOG’ Ward posted photos of him sparring on his social media site on Friday, saying ”Boxing, I miss you.” If Ward, 34, was to launch a comeback in 2018, he would figure to be in the mix for a clash with the popular British fighter Tony Bellew (30-2-1, 20 KOs).
By Scott Gilfoid: Eddie Hearn says if undisputed cruiserweight champion Aleksandr Usyk wants to challenge heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua for his world titles, then he’ll need to go through his Matchroom stable fighters Tony Bellew in November followed by Dillian Whyte after that before he can eventually share the ring with AJ. In other words, Usyk will need to run the Matchroom gauntlet before he can get inside the ring with Joshua. Interestingly enough, Hearn feels that the unbeaten Usyk (15-0, 11 KOs) won’t make it past the 35-year-old Bellew (30-2-1, 20 KOs) when/if they face each other in November in the UK.
By Scott Gilfoid: Tony Bellew says he’ll knockout undisputed cruiserweight champion Aleksandr Usyk, and then retire afterwards due to how punishing the fight will be for him. Bellew (30-2-1, 20 KOs) says he won’t want to continue his after he knocks out the 31-year-old Usyk (15-0, 11 KOs).
By Tim Royner: Former super featherweight world champion Naseem Hamed believes undisputed cruiserweight champion Aleksandr Usyk would give IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (21-0, 20 KOs) and WBC heavyweight champion Deontay ‘Bronze Bomber’ Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) problems in the future when he moves up in weight to challenge him for his belts.
By Tim Royner: WBO World cruiserweight champion Aleksandr Usyk (13-0, 11 KOs) is looking beyond his unification fight this Saturday night against WBC champion Mairis Briedis (23-0, 18 KOs) towards a title shot in the future against IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs).
By Sean Jones: WBO World cruiserweight champion Aleksandr Usyk (13-0, 11 KOs) will be on the road for his next fight against WBC champion Mairis Briedis (23-0, 18 KOs) in the semifinals of the World Boxing Super Series on January 27. The fight will be staged at the Arena Riga in Latvia. Usyk is from Kiev, Ukraine. This will be the second consecutive fight in which Usyk, the No.1 seed in the WBSS tournament, will need to travel to his opponent’s home country to fight.