Manchester Arena in Manchester, England plays host to a major boxing match today (Saturday, November 10th). Undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk takes on former WBC champion Tony Bellew in a bout that doubles as both an Usyk title defense and Bellew’s retirement fight.
Usyk (15-0, 11 KOs) is an Olympic gold medalist with a remarkable amateur career, and in five years as a professional he’s established himself as up there with his friend and fellow gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko as one of boxing’s pound-for-pound best. He’s a “road warrior,” having won the WBO title from Krzysztof Glowacki in Poland in 2016, defended that belt in Germany against Germany’s former champ Marco Huck, won the WBC title from Latvian Mairis Briedis in Latvia, then took the WBA and IBF belts from Russia’s Murat Gassiev in Moscow, along with the World Boxing Super Series trophy.