Tony Bellew has been in the ring with some of the very best but named a surprising fighter when asked who the most skilful he ever faced was.
Tony Bellew won the WBC cruiserweight championship on a fairytale night in Goodison Parker where he knocked out Ilunga Makabu in devastating fashion.
The champion then moved up in weight to stop former heavyweight champion David Haye twice before returning to cruiserweight to take on Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed championship.
Bellew was knocked out by Usyk but surprisingly didn’t name the now undisputed heavyweight champion when asked who was the most skilful fighter he had faced.
James DeGale the most skilful boxer I’ve faced says Tony Bellew
Bellew shocked many by naming former super middleweight champion James DeGale as the most skilful man he had been in the ring with.
DeGale held the IBF title for two years and was held to draw against WBC champion Badou Jack before retiring after defeat to Chris Eubank Jr in 2019.
Bellew revealed he shared the ring with the former super middleweight champion during sparring for many of his training camps and was impressed by the southpaw’s skills.
“Usyk was up there, but I’ve got to say my old mate, James DeGale,” Bellew told DAZN.
“Me and ‘Chunky’ were close all the way through our careers and I’d sparred him when we were both amateurs and also when I needed tough southpaw sparring.
“He could do it all in the ring and he was as tough as anything too. He showed that during his own career as look what he achieved. A proper quality fighter.”
Oleksandr Usyk is in a league of his own
Bellew may not rank Usyk as the most skilful he has faced, but Tyson Fury certainly does.
Fury suffered defeat to the now undisputed heavyweight champion last month and looks set to rematch the Ukrainian in December.
In the lead-up to their first contest Fury publicly said Usyk was by far the best he would have faced and Deontay Wilder and Wladimir Klitschko were not fit to lace his boots.
The Ukrainian went on to prove that statement true by handing Fury his first defeat and coming close to stopping the now-former heavyweight champion in the ninth round.