Tony Bellew tells Tyson Fury how to beat Oleksandr Usyk – but is not convinced he will do it

Tony Bellew says the only way to beat Oleksandr Usyk is to catch him off guard – but isn't backing Tyson Fury to do it.

Usyk has rarely been at risk of losing his unbeaten 21-0 record. Bellew was up on the scorecards in their November 2018 cruiserweight title fight, but it proved to be a case of the tortoise and the hare as he was knocked out in the eighth round.

The Liverpudlian thinks presenting Usyk with the unexpected is the way to go, but does hold regrets about how he went about it. He told us (via AceOdds): "The way to beat Usyk is the approach that – I don't want to say this – but I took to him.

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"You've got to surprise him. You've got to bring him something he's not expecting. Usyk expected me to jump all over him and try to knock him out with one big punch.

"I knew I was never going to catch him with one big shot unless I started bringing him to me. And in the first six, seven rounds that I fought him, I brought him to me. I made him miss, I made him pay a few times.

"Of course, I got caught, but it exhausted me to do it and that was the difference. If I could go back again, I wouldn't have taken that approach. I would have pressed him and I would have looked for the shot."

Bellew attempted to explain just how frustrating it is to face the Ukrainian and what Fury can expect in their undisputed bout in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.

"The difference in fighting Usyk is that his front foot is constantly this far away (makes a small gap with his hands) from you, and that is the most soul destroying thing for a fighter in the world," the former world champion said.

"He’s constantly just this far away. Now that seems like nothing sitting here, listening and watching me, but your front foot being that far away from someone, for six, eight, 12 minutes and consistently nonstop, it zaps your brain. It absolutely wears you out. And then, when someone's that far away from your front foot, that means you can hit them."

Bellew reckons "there's nothing Fury can do" to combat Usyk's style and profile, which is one he's previously struggled with against the likes of Otto Wallin and Steve Cunningham, claiming he's his "dream opponent".

"Tyson Fury for the first time in his whole entire life is going to face someone who's a better pure boxer than him," he argued. "Oleksandr Usyk is the best pure boxer the heavyweight division has ever seen.

"It's just the fact that he's not big enough. That's the only reason that makes these fights close. If he was bigger, no one would win a round, I promise you. The fact that because he's small and he's this size, it's the only thing that evens them up.

"I've said it before, the only thing that beats Oleksandr is his size because no one's a better boxer than him and that includes Tyson Fury, who is a brilliant boxer as well by the way. But he is not a better boxer than Oleksandr Usyk. And you're going to see that."