I have what it takes to bomb out Usyk: Bellew
Bellew is convinced he will “find a way” to defeat “the monster” Oleksandr Usyk and become undisputed world cruiserweight champion.
Bellew challenges unbeaten Ukrainian Usyk — who added the WBA and IBF titles to his WBC and WBO crowns in July by beating Murat Gassiev — on November 10 at Manchester Arena.
The 35-year-old Liverpudlian is returning after two heavyweight victories over David Haye to the division in which he is a former WBC champion.
Bellew said: “Everyone asks why. I was on my honeymoon and for one reason or another I stood there watching Oleksandr beat up Murat Gassiev on a mobile phone. The fight stops, and then he makes the ultimate sin — he says my name. And it didn’t take long. Soon as he said my name, I knew.
“The world’s going to write me off and the more you write me off, the more I want to fight. “So we will see.
“I’m going up against the monster, the man who no one really wants to fight, the man who just dismantles fighters and beats them easily.
“There’s only one difference when he looks in my eyes. He passed a comment after Saturday’s stare-down — the comment was he thinks I’m arrogant. But it is not arrogance he sees.
“For the first time in his whole career he sees a man looking back at him who believes he can win. I don’t just think or believe — I know. I’m going to find a way. I always do.”
While Bellew (30-2-1, 20 KOs) also described Usyk (15-0, 11 KOs) as an “amazing champion” and a “superstar”, he added: “I have the one thing he doesn’t have, and that’s a punch that can switch lights off within the blink of an eye.”
Usyk said of Bellew: “I’ll tell you why I chose him — because he is the man who takes the biggest challenges.
“He is not the kind of usual boxers who come, see how hard it is and just quit. He will come (and fight) to the end. These kind of fights are something the world wants to see.” JOSH Moffett will be confirmed as the 2018 Irish Tarmac rally champion when he sits out this weekend’s final round, the Cork ‘20’ International.
Already the winner of the Irish Forestry Championship, Moffett only needed to secure the single point for crossing the start ramp in Cork on Saturday morning to be assured of the Tarmac title for the first time — and then only if his brother Sam was in the lineup. But a pact between the brothers will see neither of them take part, effectively handing the championship to Josh.
It was Sam, of course, who won all three major Irish chamTONY pionships last year and he has taken a relative back seat this season, allowing Josh to try to emulate his achievement.
And the younger Moffett has made a gallant effort. He is already the champion in the forests and now in the international tarmac championship, too. But he may come up short in the national tarmac series where he holds second place behind Declan Boyle.
With the final event, the Donegal Harvest Rally, in Boyle’s home territory the odds are stacked against Moffett completing the treble.
In the absence of the new Tarmac champion and his brother, Jonny Greer heads the seeding list in his R5 Ford Fiesta in Cork where there will be a first time winner in the series. Greer, the 2017 Northern Ireland champion, has never won a Tarmac round nor has No.2 seed Roy White, even though he is a former Irish National champion in his WRC Fiesta, or Daniel Cronin, brother of four-time British champion Keith, starts at three in his R5 Fiesta.
Young Welshman Meirion Evans is No.4 in an R5 Hyundai ahead of the first of the Ford Escort drivers, Frank Kelly, the Dungannon man fresh from coming out top from more than 100 drivers who took part in the Escort Rally Special in Belgium marking the 50th anniversary of the iconic Ford.
David Guest (Skoda Fabia) and the Escorts of Brian Brogan, Colin Byrne and John Bonner.