Tony Bellew is confident he can beat Oleksandr Usyk if the deal is made for the two to fight, but he also says that he’ll take so much punishment to do so that he knows it will be his last fight.

From Sky Sports:

“I’ve got so much respect for (Usyk). I sparred with him in the amateurs and he was a master then. He is my worst nightmare, a tall, rangy southpaw, with skills to burn and fantastic footwork. But I can tell you now, if I fight Oleksandr Usyk, it will be me last ever fight, because I will take some serious stick. ... I might not be the same man coming out of it, but I can tell you I will win. I don’t know how, I don’t know when it will happen, but I know I will take him.”

As for the recent news that Bellew wants the bout at cruiserweight and not at heavyweight, the man himself had this to say:

“I want all those belts. I want the fight and I want all the marbles. There’s no point doing it if there’s nothing on it.”

Bellew (30-2-1, 20 KO) has fought his last two bouts at heavyweight, wins over David Haye, but he competed well at cruiserweight for a while before that, winning the WBC title in 2016 over Junior Makabu, and defending once against BJ Flores.

Usyk (15-0, 11 KO) is a whole different beast, of course, but Bellew is not one to shy away from a challenge, and he may well have the style, power, and determination to make it an interesting fight. And either way, he’d be fighting the world’s best cruiserweight, one of the P4P best fighters in the sport, for the undisputed championship in a money bout. Not a bad position to be in at 35.