Tony Bellew predicts a ‘dangerous’ heavyweight fight between Usyk and Rico Verhoeven

Former world champion Tony Bellewwho suffered an eighth-round stoppage loss to Oleksandr Usyk in 2018, has given his thoughts on Rico Verhoeven’s chances against the masterful Ukraine.

It was announced on Friday that Usyk will defend his WBC title against the kickboxing star on May 23, headlining a show at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, although WBC has since offered an update which suggests the belt may not be on the line.

Needless to say, this is an extremely tall order for Verhoeven, whose only professional boxing outing came via a second round finish over Janos Finfera – whose record was 0-5 at the time – in 2014.

Meanwhile, Usyk has firmly established himself as the greatest heavyweight of this era, having beaten Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois twice.

The last outing of the 39-year-old man, a fifth round finish over Dubois in July, he also became the three-time, two-division undisputed champion, adding to his honors across the professional and amateur ranks.

Since then, however, Usyk has relinquished his WBO world title – now held by Fabio Wardley – while his IBF and WBA belts are apparently unavailable for his clash with Verhoeven.

But still, Usyk is widely regarded as the bona fide heavyweight king, while Verhoeven remains largely an unknown quantity in professional boxing.

Go to social mediaBellew said he expected the ‘dangerous’ 36-year-old to be in the fight for just over two rounds, before facing the full force of Usyk’s brilliance.

“He will come in and give it everything without hesitation and he will (not) show respect which will make it interesting for about 6/7 minutes!

“Once this is over he will be taught a painful lesson! He is big, brave and dangerous but does not have a boxing IQ at this level! This is not subtle!”

Verhoeven has been training with respected trainer Peter Furyand has a decorated kickboxing background, but ultimately has never come across a fighter like Usyk.