Former world champion Tony Belew shared his views on the upcoming rematch between the Ukrainian WBA, WBO, IBF, IBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and Briton Anthony Joshua.
The 39-year-old British boxer, whom Usyk defeated by knockout in his last cruiserweight bout, is concerned about the psychological state of the Ukrainian against the backdrop of a full-scale war that Russia unleashed against Ukraine.
" Let's just wait and see what state Alexander is in. If he is safe and Joshua is doing well, then we will talk more about this fight later.. But this fight is intriguing, it really is.. We will find out everything soon, but now, if we talk about Oleksandr Usyk, he thinks about his country and the safety of all its inhabitants,"
After a full-scale Russian invasion, Usyk entered the territorial defense, but later received permission to leave the country and said that he would be preparing for revenge from Anthony Joshua.
Oleksandr posted a video message on his Instagram page, where he explained his decision to leave Ukraine during the war. According to the boxer, in this way he will help his country more.
Earlier it was reported that Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn named a potential date and place for a rematch with Usyk. The fight will be announced soon.
On the night of September 26, Usyk defeated Joshua in London by unanimous decision - 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113, and won the IBF, WBO, WBA and IBO heavyweight titles. After that, the Briton activated the option of revenge, prescribed in the contract for the first fight..
The 35-year-old Usyk has 19 wins (13 by knockout) in 19 fights. He held three of them in the heavyweight division.. Before that, Alexander became the absolute world champion in the cruiserweight (weight category up to 90.7 kg), having won all four of the most prestigious belts there..
Joshua, 32, has 24 wins (22 by knockout) and two losses.. For the first time, AJ lost in June 2019 to Andy Ruiz, but in December of the same year he defeated the Mexican in a rematch and regained his titles.