“‘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.”
Bellew retired in 2018 after suffering a stoppage loss to Usyk while challenging the southpaw for the undisputed cruiserweight title. Usyk, who has since moved up to heavyweight, is so far only man to have reigned as undisputed cruiserweight champion in the four-belt era.
“When you get in the ring with Oleksandr Usyk, you have so many different, difficult tasks in front of you,” Bellew said. “It’s his footwork, hand speed and movement. 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.
Tyson Fury (left) and Anthony Joshua could square off before the end of 2022
“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.’”
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Joshua, 32, has agreed to a 60-40 purse split in Fury’s favour and a 50-50 split for a potential rematch with the unbeaten 34-year-old.
No deal has yet been completed, however, with talks having been put on hold last week after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
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