The threat Oleksandr Usyk poses to Tony Bellew

OLEKSANDR USYK vs Tony Bellew is now official. All the belts at cruiserweight will be on the line as the charismatic pair do battle at the Manchester Arena on November 10th. In the aftermath of Usyk’s World Boxing Super Series victory, he immediately called for the popular Liverpudlian and he got his wish as Bellew accepted the showdown. Dave Coldwell, trainer of Bellew, is hard at work preparing his charge for the imminent challenge and he fully believes they have the game plan to grab the win.

“It’s what I’m in boxing for,” revealed Coldwell, hours after seeing Usyk in the flesh as he and Bellew went face to face at a Manchester press conference. “I go into every fight believing I have the plan to get victory and this is no different. You can look at Usyk and think he’s unbeatable, but I’ve got a man who thrives on challenges like this. Everybody told me Junior Makabu would beat him. I was told that it was suicide against [David] Haye. Every time he steps up he wins and this is stepping up again. Believe me when I tell you this, Bellew wants this more than anything.”

In Usyk, Bellew is facing a pound for pound star who has added professional honours to his growing repertoire with the same ease he achieved amateur gongs. His dominant display in the WBSS had purists applauding from afar and he’s maintaining his run of stellar opponents by going up against Bellew. Coldwell, a studious observer of Usyk for a while, sees numerous ways the Ukrainian can be exploited.

“I could sit here all day and tell you things things that Usyk does well, but so could most people because he’s looked fantastic so far as a pro,” he said. “My job is take what he does well away and take advantage of what Tony does well because my man is one of the most underrated fighters out there. His boxing brain doesn’t get the credit it deserves and his power since moving to cruiserweight is on another level. Tony knows what it’s like to dig in and emerge from hard gruelling fights and that’s a big thing when you’re at the highest level. I know we’re underdogs once again, but we’ve proved before that it doesn’t really matter.”