Bellew's record is complete smoke and mirrors. Fair play to him, he's made more money relative to his talent than any boxer I can think of, and he's even been in a Rocky film. Literally living the dream.
But this is about levels, and Bellew is Usyk's easiest fight of the year by far. Neither of them are punchers so this is going the distance, and I just can't see a route to victory for Bellew.
I've put money on the SD because you're basically betting on one of the judges being bent, and I've got a bit on Usyk late stoppage, thinking cuts or somethibg.
What with Bellew retiring and Usyk signing with Eddie Hearn, I don't even think home cooking is a factor. Bellew is not going to make any more money for matchroom, but Usyk is going to work his way through all the gatekeepers up to AJ now and so he needs hyping up.
I hope you guys are prepared for a stinker as well! Once you go past the broken down David Haye and some Latvians at cruiserweight, Bellew has been in some of the worst fights of all time. I sat through 24 fucking rounds of him scraping past Chilemba FFS.