Tony Bellew vs Usyk LIVE: Bellew retires immediately, Usyk looks for heavyweight move to fight Anthony Joshua after knockout victory
Tony Bellew's quest to become the unified cruiserweight champion ended in defeat as Oleksandr Usyk inflicted a devastating knockout defeat inside the Manchester Arena to retain the WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring titles.
Bellew previously held the WBC title after he defeated Ilunga Makabu in what he describes as the 'greatest night of his boxing career', winning the belt at the home of his beloved Everton - Goodison Park - before then vacating it after a single defence in order to fight David Haye twice at heavyweight.
In his absence, Usyk dominated the division and, early Bellew made a quick start to cause Usyk problems he hadn't faced before, the Ukranian stepped the pace up to start dominating Bellew.
By the time the sixth round finished, Bellew was starting to blow as the pace took its toll, and a momentary loss of concentration at the end of the seventh saw Usyk rock him on the bell with a left hook - a punch that Bellew would get to know much more in the next round.
With Bellew stunned, Usyk went for the kill and a cross-left was followed by a brutal left hook that sent Bellew crashing to the canvas, with the fight waved off before he could attempt to return to his feet.
Once he regained his bearings, Bellew confirmed that it will be the last time he fights in the ring, while Usyk set his sights on the heavyweight division and future bouts against Anthony Joshua, Dillian Whyte and Deontay WIlder.
Re-live all the action from the fight and from the press conferences below.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Tony Bellew vs Oleksandr Usyk, where the Liverpudlian fighter will attempt to do what no British fighter in history has ever done - hold all four major world championship belts at cruiserweight.
The coverage will be run by mainly me (Adam Hamdani) with Luke Brown chipping in now and again and giving his predictions to the fight.
We'll have full coverage of the evening's events, from the start of the undercard to the post-fight press conference, so make sure you stay tuned with us.
We're expecting the ring walks for the main event to be from around 10pm, but as ever with boxing that can and probably will change depending on what else happens.
For now, I recommend you enjoying this funny video of Usyk interrupting a Bellew interview with Sky Sports yesterday.
Over the last couple of years, Tony Bellew has been aggressive going into press conferences, aggravated by David Haye and the over-dramatised way of selling the fight, he's only brought a little bit of that spice into his pre-fight words with Usyk (slightly because of the language barrier...).
This is a fight all about one thing - being the king of the division.
Usyk was crowned it in just 15 fights, the fastest of any man to unify an entire division, but after winning the World Boxing Super Series, he had one man on his mind. Tony Bellew.
This is what he had to say:
"At this time I have heard that Tony Bellew wants to fight the winner of the Muhammad Ali Trophy. I hope he will see me talking.... 'hey Tony Bellew, are you ready?'
"If he doesn't want to go down, I will go up for him. I will eat more spaghetti for my dinner!"
A man who loves a metaphor in case you were unaware.
He's fought 33 times, with an impressive 30 victories. 21 of those have come by way of knockout, with just the two defeats (to Nathan Cleverly and Adonis Stevenson) and a single draw, against Isaac Chilemba, who Bellew then defeated by unanimous decision.
What is Oleksandr Usyk's professional boxing record?
Usyk has never lost a professional fight. His record stands at 15-0, with 11 of his victories coming via knockout.
He won the undisputed championship in his 15th professional fight, which is an all-time boxing record, and as an amateur won gold medals at the 2011 World Championships and 2012 Olympics.
His amateur record is absolutely absurd, 335 wins to 15 defeats. He's still only 31-years-old.
We've arrived at the Manchester Arena, it's still early doors but we'll be here for a while - bringing you all the boxing coverage throughout the night.
This is how the undercard is looking tonight.
Sam Hyde vs Richard Riakporhe
Dave Allen vs Ariel Esteban Bracamonte
Josh Kelly vs Walter Fabian Castillo
Ricky Burns vs Scotty Cardle
Anthony Crolla vs Daud Yordan
Not a stunning one, but a few tasty fights on there - notably Burns vs Cardle. Everyone's favourite boxer Dave Allen will make an appearance too.
Riakporhe trains regularly with Dillian Whyte - who acts as his mentor. The cruiserweight fighter has had seven fights to date, winning all seven with six knockouts.
He should be an entertaining fighter in an increasingly interesting division.
Hyde (left) and Riakporhe (right) face off first this evening
"He thrives being the underdog. He loves the pressure. I'd just say do what you've been doing. You can't question someone who finds a way to win. He has a lot more experience. Double the fights."
Bellew is absolutely full of confidence going into his biggest fight and greatest challenge.
"We're going to create madness, and you're going to get one of the greatest fights you've ever seen of all time, believe you me. As long as he doesn't come here to run, play games, and steal decisions.
"He's a formidable and fantastic champion. Pound for pound one of the kings of the world. I've been an underdog so many times, you might as well start calling me the 'overdog', because tomorrow night I'm going to shock the odds once again, and surprise the whole world of boxing.
"The only person who beats me, is me. I will be crowned the king of the world."
As everyone knows, Usyk is looking far beyond the man he will face tonight - and is hoping to step up to heavyweight and come up against the likes of Anthony Joshua.
“I saw him for the first time at the 2011 World Championship finals against Magomedrasul Majidov. It was a great fight and after this fight I said he is going to be the Olympic champion in London,” Usyk told Sky Sports.
“I watched all his fights in London at the Olympic Games and of course his professional fights as well. I am interested in him, I mean it is interesting to watch his fights.”
“When promoters start negotiations between Usyk and Joshua, then I will get ready for that.
“If you want to make God smile, tell him your plans. Do you understand that my father raised me not to tell what hasn't happened yet.”
