Tony Bellew vs Usyk LIVE: Bellew retires immediately, Usyk looks for heavyweight move to fight Anthony Joshua after knockout victory
Usyk beat Bellew via knockout in the eighth round. Re-live all the action plus the post-fight press conferences
Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing
Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news
Tony Bellew's quest to become the unified cruiserweight champion ended in defeat as Oleksandr Usyk inflicted a devastating knockout defeat inside the Manchester Arena to retain the WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring titles.
Bellew previously held the WBC title after he defeated Ilunga Makabu in what he describes as the 'greatest night of his boxing career', winning the belt at the home of his beloved Everton - Goodison Park - before then vacating it after a single defence in order to fight David Haye twice at heavyweight.
In his absence, Usyk dominated the division and, early Bellew made a quick start to cause Usyk problems he hadn't faced before, the Ukranian stepped the pace up to start dominating Bellew.
By the time the sixth round finished, Bellew was starting to blow as the pace took its toll, and a momentary loss of concentration at the end of the seventh saw Usyk rock him on the bell with a left hook - a punch that Bellew would get to know much more in the next round.
With Bellew stunned, Usyk went for the kill and a cross-left was followed by a brutal left hook that sent Bellew crashing to the canvas, with the fight waved off before he could attempt to return to his feet.
Once he regained his bearings, Bellew confirmed that it will be the last time he fights in the ring, while Usyk set his sights on the heavyweight division and future bouts against Anthony Joshua, Dillian Whyte and Deontay WIlder.
Re-live all the action from the fight and from the press conferences below.
Fight preview:
When and where is the fight?
The fight takes place tonight at the Manchester Arena.
Expect the ring walks to take place around 10pm.
Where can I watch it?
The fight will be shown live on Sky Sports Box Office, which means you’re going to have to cough up if you want to watch it.
The PPV costs £19.95, or you can follow along for free with us, right here.
Who is the undercard?
- Sam Hyde vs Richard Riakporhe
- Dave Allen vs Ariel Esteban Bracamonte
- Josh Kelly vs Walter Fabian Castillo
- Ricky Burns vs Scotty Cardle
- Anthony Crolla vs Daud Yordan
Who do you think will win? Let us know in the comments below.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Tony Bellew vs Oleksandr Usyk, where the Liverpudlian fighter will attempt to do what no British fighter in history has ever done - hold all four major world championship belts at cruiserweight.
The coverage will be run by mainly me (Adam Hamdani) with Luke Brown chipping in now and again and giving his predictions to the fight.
We'll have full coverage of the evening's events, from the start of the undercard to the post-fight press conference, so make sure you stay tuned with us.
There's no better way to get excited for this one than by reading the Big Daddy's preview.
A fight so rare that very few in attendance will have ever seen a proper four-belt unification live before.
We're expecting the ring walks for the main event to be from around 10pm, but as ever with boxing that can and probably will change depending on what else happens.
For now, I recommend you enjoying this funny video of Usyk interrupting a Bellew interview with Sky Sports yesterday.
Over the last couple of years, Tony Bellew has been aggressive going into press conferences, aggravated by David Haye and the over-dramatised way of selling the fight, he's only brought a little bit of that spice into his pre-fight words with Usyk (slightly because of the language barrier...).
This is a fight all about one thing - being the king of the division.
Usyk was crowned it in just 15 fights, the fastest of any man to unify an entire division, but after winning the World Boxing Super Series, he had one man on his mind. Tony Bellew.
This is what he had to say:
"At this time I have heard that Tony Bellew wants to fight the winner of the Muhammad Ali Trophy. I hope he will see me talking.... 'hey Tony Bellew, are you ready?'
"If he doesn't want to go down, I will go up for him. I will eat more spaghetti for my dinner!"
A man who loves a metaphor in case you were unaware.
One man everyone always wants to know the thoughts of, especially when it comes to the boxing world: Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua.
Who does he think will win?
What is Tony Bellew's professional boxing record?
He's fought 33 times, with an impressive 30 victories. 21 of those have come by way of knockout, with just the two defeats (to Nathan Cleverly and Adonis Stevenson) and a single draw, against Isaac Chilemba, who Bellew then defeated by unanimous decision.
A good, solid record.
Bellew has beaten Haye twice
What is Oleksandr Usyk's professional boxing record?
Usyk has never lost a professional fight. His record stands at 15-0, with 11 of his victories coming via knockout.
He won the undisputed championship in his 15th professional fight, which is an all-time boxing record, and as an amateur won gold medals at the 2011 World Championships and 2012 Olympics.
His amateur record is absolutely absurd, 335 wins to 15 defeats. He's still only 31-years-old.
Yep.
We've arrived at the Manchester Arena, it's still early doors but we'll be here for a while - bringing you all the boxing coverage throughout the night.
This is how the undercard is looking tonight.
- Sam Hyde vs Richard Riakporhe
- Dave Allen vs Ariel Esteban Bracamonte
- Josh Kelly vs Walter Fabian Castillo
- Ricky Burns vs Scotty Cardle
- Anthony Crolla vs Daud Yordan
Not a stunning one, but a few tasty fights on there - notably Burns vs Cardle. Everyone's favourite boxer Dave Allen will make an appearance too.
The coverage over on Sky Sports has begun and is free for the next hour or so.
Look what Carl Froch and Johnny Nelson have on them: all the belts.
Up first is Sam Hyde vs Richard Riakporhe.
Riakporhe trains regularly with Dillian Whyte - who acts as his mentor. The cruiserweight fighter has had seven fights to date, winning all seven with six knockouts.
He should be an entertaining fighter in an increasingly interesting division.
Hyde (left) and Riakporhe (right) face off first this evening
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies