Bellew: I want Usyk-Gassiev winner

With Tony Bellew still riding high off his second stoppage of David Haye this past May, the British fighter tells RingTV that he’s weighing his next options and is hoping to land a fight against the winner of Oleksander Usyk and Murat Gassiev, who will be fighting in the WBSS cruiserweight finals this weekend.

“I want the Usyk-Gassiev winner but I need to weigh things up,” admitted Bellew. “If fighting the Usyk-Gassiev winner was the same money as fighting any of the other two fighters I have in mind, then it would be a no-brainer. But if I can make three to five times more money for fighting a Tyson Fury or an Andre Ward, then that outweighs winning all those belts at cruiserweight.”

Bellew, who moved up to heavyweight for his two fights with Haye, says he relishes the thought of being able to claim the undisputed cruiserweight championship but the only reason he didn’t join the WBSS tournament was because he’s also a businessman.

Bellew says he made more money in one fight against Haye than what the ultimate winner of the WBSS tourney will have made through three fights — and he didn’t have to take the requisite punishment along the way.

But don’t get it confused, Bellew knows what he would be up against in such a fight against either Usyk or Gassiev, and says if he were to take a fight against the winner it would have to be the final fight of his career because although he’s sure he can beat either man, he believes it would take a serious physical toll on him.

“If I come back to cruiserweight and fight the winner of Usyk-Gassiev, I know that it would be the final fight of my career because I would take so much stick from either one of them. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got it in me to beat the two of them, but I also know I’m going to take a lot of punishment in there.”

In the meanwhile, Usyk and Gassiev will have to settle their business first this weekend, in what is expected to a thrilling fight between two skilled combatants.