Tony Bellew has accused Tyson Fury of avoiding Oleksandr Usyk as he continues to work towards a voluntary world title defence against Anthony Joshua.
The British duo's end-of-year fight is currently on the verge of being signed, with the pair set to do battle on December 3 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. However, Bellew believes that Fury is not keen to fight Usyk in a fight that would finally crown an undisputed heavyweight champion for the first time since Lennox Lewis over two decades ago.
Bellew, who has shared the ring in a world title fight with Usyk, reckons that the Joshua bout is something of a distraction. And he's unsure that Fury will ever face the Ukrainian, who has asked not to fight in December due to lingering injuries from his rematch with Joshua after a tumultuous year in his home country.
“I don’t want to say he doesn’t fancy it against Oleksandr Usyk but let’s be honest, it’s not an easy proposition is it,” Bellew said on talkSPORT Breakfast. "He’s had two opportunities now to face Oleksandr Usyk and he’s knocked them both back. That’s not my opinion, that’s a fact. For someone who is a so-called middleweight, I don’t see what the problem is.
“’You’re a middleweight, you’re a middleweight.’ That’s all I hear! Why not just beat the middleweight up? I would if I were you. And then you’ve got all the belts, you’ve achieved everything in boxing. You’ve cleaned out a division, you’ve cleaned out an era and can ride off into the sunset."
The opportunities Bellew is talking about are likely a prospective bout this December, which was floated before the Joshua bout came up. There was also a mega money deal tabled back at the start of the year for Fury to pay off then-mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte and Usyk to have Joshua step aside so that the pair could fight in Saudi Arabia.
But Joshua and Whyte were never particularly keen on the idea, and it's unclear just how close that deal ever actually was to happening. Eddie Hearn, who promotes Joshua under the Matchroom Boxing banner, believes that Fury didn't fancy fighting the much smaller Usyk, and preferred the tried and tested prospect of a bout against Whyte.
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Fury famously struggled with Steve Cunningham during his 2013 American debut, getting dropped by the former cruiserweight champion in New York. But he arose and ultimately stopped Cunningham to continue his undefeated run, which has lasted through to today.
“When you get in the ring with Oleksandr Usyk you have so many different, difficult tasks in front of you. It’s his footwork, hand speed and movement,” Bellew explained. You know, he’s got a bit of pop in his gloves these days because he’s up a weight division and he’s not getting himself down to cruiserweight.
“There’s just so many things to take into account and for a guy like Fury, he’s like, ‘I want to fight a guy who I know exactly what he will do.’ For some reason unbeknown to me this ‘middleweight’ he doesn’t want to face on three months’ notice. I don’t get it! What I do understand is, ‘I’ll tell you what, I’ll fight AJ because I can earn double against AJ than what I’ll earn against Usyk’.”
