Tony Bellew has warned Tyson Fury that he'll be wasting his time with mind games for his bout with Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury and Usyk had been due to face each other this month, However, after the Gypsy King sustained a serious eye injury, their fight was pushed back to May instead.
All eyes will be on the pair in the coming months, especially with so much on the line.
Fury is a master of mind games, with the 35-year-old always relishing the chance to rile up his rivals.
Boxing news: Tony Bellew has warned Tyson Fury he'll be unable to get into Oleksandr Usyk's head
GETTY
Yet Bellew, speaking to talkSPORT, has warned the Briton he's wasting his time and believes he'll be unable to get into Usyk's head on May 18.
“You’re not getting inside his head to be honest,” said the former boxing star.
“I believe, without blowing my own trumpet, that I’m very, very good at that. I’m absolutely fantastic at winding people up.
“But I didn’t think [Usyk] spoke great English and then he came into the dressing room after beating me up and then spoke perfect English to me, he done me good and proper.
“But listen, I’m his biggest fan. I’m his biggest fan, he understands really good English, he just doesn’t speak it well.
"It doesn’t matter though, his mindset is on another level to anyone’s I’ve seen.
“Tyson’s not going to get to him, he really isn’t and if anything it’ll get to Tyson the fact that he’s not getting to him.”
Fury has been criticised ever since the fight with Usyk was postponed.
Some have suggested he cut his eye on purpose, something both the 35-year-old and his promoter, Frank Warren, strongly deny.
Yet Bellew is furious about those allegations and believes the claims are wide of the mark.
He added: “If he doesn’t heal quickly, what I will say is he ain’t taking a punch on that until March, he ain’t sparring until the middle of March.
"Then he’s also got to be very, very careful and wary when he does start sparring, it’s hard to say.
“Some of the ludicrous stories of where he’s cut his face and stuff like that, get a grip of yourself.
"This is a lad who’s going to fight for reportedly anything between £50million and £70million, and you think he’s going to cut his own face to get it to fall through?
“Don’t be ridiculous, some of the stories out there, some of the conspiracy theorists.
LATEST SPORTS NEWS:
- Christian Horner 'has badly damaged relationship with Max Verstappen's dad' as Red Bull chief refuses to quit
- Luke Littler blocked from other darts tour for two years but loophole in rule allows him to defend title
- Tyson Fury addresses 'retiring soon' as boxing star confirms plan for sensational Anthony Joshua fight
Boxing news: Tony Bellew knows all about Oleksandr Usyk after losing to the Ukrainian back in 2018
GETTY
"Listen, I’ve always thought that he wasn’t the keenest on facing Oleksandr Usyk but when you’re putting up the kind of money you’re putting up, he’s not scared of no one.
“No fighters are scared of each other, let me just emphasise that.
"We’re not scared of no one, he’s got two arms and two legs like him. But he’s just been very unfortunate, it happens.
“Everyone’s seen what he’s done to David Haye, David Haye got cut. I think it was a couple of weeks before facing him.
"It’s just unfortunate that he’s suffered the same fate now, it’s happened to him directly, so karma works in strange ways.”
Boxing news: Tony Bellew has defended Tyson Fury amid conspiracy theories over his eye injury
GETTY
Bellew is, however, adamant that Usyk will beat Fury when the pair do finally step into the ring.
“Usyk,” he said. “He wins on points and he wins wide.”
