Eddie Hearn says Usyk could fight winner of Whyte V Chisora before Joshua

Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed that Tony Bellew told him Oleksandr Usyk is not yet ready for a heavyweight showdown with Anthony Joshua. Hearn instead thinks the Ukrainian should cut his teeth in a fight with either Dillian Whyte or Dereck Chisora. “Tony said he doesn’t think Usyk is ready for Joshua just yet,” Hearn said. “And although he is heavy duty he is going to have to get bigger. He’ll want to get himself up to 15st. Plus the Usyk team are very clever guys, so they will want a couple of fights at heavyweight before they take on Joshua. “And with Usyk, when you think about the fight and the schedule he has had, I don’t think he will fight again until April or May. He will probably only box twice in 2019 and, if he wants to box in the UK, he is going to have to fight the winner of Whyte vs Chisora, or somebody like that. “Take Dillian. Technically Usyk is much better but can he deal with the heavy duty of Dillian? I really don't think anybody can out-skill Usyk but the challenge will be similar to the one Lomachenko is facing: is he too small? Now that he is going to heavy, he is going to be at a disadvantage.” Hearn believes that the Ukrainian will be a huge hit with British fight fans. “I want to sell him on his quirkiness, there is absolutely no point in trying to change his personality,” Hearn added. “I want to market him on what he is — a genius. Somebody who has got a little bit of a strange mind, someone with deep faith. The amount of times I’ve seen him this week and he just looks like some bloke who works at the hotel, walking around with his hoody on, chatting to everyone. “I want us all to go Kiev and to his house and follow him around for a day. I saw him walking around the hotel this morning with his Bible at breakfast, he went to the local church, I didn’t even know he was married, you find out these things. He’s just a fascinating individual and energy.” Tony Bellew was knocked out by Oleksandr Usyk in the eighth round of a clash on Saturday night.

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