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
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Your support makes all the difference.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.
The class from Usyk is starting to show. His jab is getting to work and he's keeping Bellew on the backfoot, even up against the ropes at times and that's not where he'll want to be at all.
Every time Bellew lands, he lands heavy but Usyk doesn't seem fazed.
That's the first round I'd give to the champion.
So, I've given three rounds to Bellew, one as a draw and one to Usyk so far.
I could be so, so wrong though.
This is going in Usyk's favour now, he's constantly backing his opponent up and it seems as though he's getting what he wants out of this fight right now.
He's taking his time but constantly flicking the jab, putting pressure on Bellew. As I said before though, whenever Bellew does land, he appears to land heavy - maybe the tactics are exactly what we all think they are, go for the knockout.
That's a 10-9 to Usyk for me.
Into round seven and Usyk has stepped things up massively, Bellew looks like he's breathing a little heavily... who knows where this one is going to go?
Usyk is keeping Bellew on the ropes, here.
The Bomber might just have peaked in this fight, he looks tired and after landing a right on Usyk, the Ukrainian just looks up and smiles at him.
Usyk keeps on keeping on. 10-9.
Many say Evander Holyfield is the best cruiserweight to ever live... if Usyk goes on to win this, does he take the crown?
You'd be hard pressed to argue against him.
IT'S ALL OVER!
Oleksandr Usyk ends the fight with an absolutely absurd combination of punches and the Bomber's dream is all over.
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