Haunted if I didn’t fight, says Bellew

Tony Bellew claims he would have been “haunted” had he turned down undisputed world cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk’s challenge ahead of this weekend’s fight.

Bellew was seemingly on the verge of retirement after burnishing his legacy with a brace of stoppage victories over British rival David Haye.

Usyk, though, called out Bellew immediately after triumphing in the World Boxing Super Series to unify the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO titles.

Bellew, himself a former world cruiserweight champion, said: “When he had all those four belts round his waist the first name out of his mouth was mine. I couldn’t believe it.

“But what would have haunted me was if I had stayed retired, and then when he calls my name with all those belts on, if I’d walked away that would have haunted me.”

The build-up to this event has seen none of the histrionics that have occasionally overshadowed Bellew’s bouts, and the respect between the pair was palpable at the weigh-in.