OLEKSANDR USYK VS TONY BELLEW

The weekend before last saw an interesting boxing encounter, as much for what went on beyond the ring as the match in it. The two fighters could not have been more different: Tony Bellew, a loud-mouthed trash-talking mulatto born in Liverpool, and Oleksandr Usyk, a well-spoken Ukrainian and Olympic gold-medalist who has criticised the conflict between ethnic Russians and Ukrainians in the Crimea in true nationalist terms:

 

I don't differentiate between our peoples. We're the Slavic people, let's just say that.

 

This is in spite of pressure from Ukrainian MP Vitaly Kupry, who, after Usyk's victory against Murat Gassiev in Moscow, berated Usyk for fighting in Russia, for not demanding the 'return' of the Crimea to the Ukraine  and for sportingly hugging Gassiev after easily winning the contest. Basically, Usyk was berated for not getting involved in petty nationalist politics, of country above race.

 

 

It is difficult to know much about Usyk's character because of the language barrier. Perhaps a passing Ukrainian can better inform me in the comments section, but what is clear is how he is being marketed: as an eccentric genius and boxing artist. Some of the spiel does ring true though. His skills in the ring and boxing IQ are of the highest order: during the match against Bellew, as commentator Paul Malignaggi remarked, after a few rounds of having his straight left slipped by Bellew, who could duck underneath it to his right, Usyk changed the trajectory into a looping hook, so that Bellew, who had become accustomed to evading it in the way mentioned, walked right into it. The rounds of relentless stalking Bellew and showing him the way out conditioned him into thinking the door would always be open, and then in the later rounds, Usyk slammed it shut. This then left Bellew indecisive as to where to go to avoid punches, which left him hesitant and static, culminating in Bellew being knocked through the ropes in Round 8. It was a masterclass by Usyk.

Bellew's character, in contrast, has always been one of talking himself up and making his achievements seem greater than the reality. Make no mistake, Bellew has achieved a great deal in his chosen sport; but to hear him talk, one would think he had been on the same plane of existence as Usyk. This is simply not the case. Usyk has taken on the best in the Cruiserweight division and won, unifying the division, with only Mairis Breidis coming close to beating him. Bellew's best wins were against a shot David Haye, barely top tier fighters Ilunga Makabu and Mateusz Masternak, and a split decision win against Nathan Cleverly, to whom he had already lost by a majority decision.

Bellew's skill as a self-promoter had always been greater than his skills in the ring, aided and abetted by his actual promoter Eddie Hearn (son of snooker, darts and boxing impresario Barry), who sold the match as a 50/50 bout in which both boxers had an equal chance of winning. Such is the persuasive silver tongue of Hearn that many of the general public actually believed this nonsense. As I stated in Youtube comments sections before the fight, Bellew didn't stand a chance. Hearn is typical of the bourgeois wheeler-dealer, British passports on tap for his multi-cultural stable of fighters. To him, Britain is just a sports club like Leighton Orient, which his father once chaired, and the native-born fans are meant to get behind whomever Hearn brings in from wherever for them to support.

The most high-profile of his stable is Anthony Joshua, a Watford-born Yoruba Nigerian who sports a tattoo of Africa on his shoulder, with Nigeria highlighted, and who dubiously won gold at the London Olympics at Super-heavyweight in 2012, gaining controversial decisions over the Cuban Erislandy Savón and the Italian in the final Roberto Cammarelle. Britain's multi-racialist politics certainly had a hand in the judges' decisions. That said, Joshua has certainly been impressive as a professional heavyweight and has legitimately defeated several big names, including Wladimir Klitschko, Joseph Parker and Alexander Povetkin. This brings us back to Usyk, for Usyk is now signed to Hearn's Matchroom promotions company and, after cleaning up the cruiserweight division, is moving up to heavyweight. 

This begs several questions: will Usyk have to get on board with the diversity propaganda; will the judges and referee be biased towards Joshua when the two inevitably meet? Matchroom fighters have, after all, received some very untoward house-boxer decisions in recent years; and one has to ask in a contest between the two Matchroom pugilists, who will receive preferential treatment? It is no secret that Hearn is especially close to Joshua, as is expected of a liberal bourgeois wheeler-dealer; and his arch-rival Frank Warren is no different. I just hope that Usyk remains true to his Slavic roots, for his pan-Slavic position is tenable while ever the Second Crimean War rages and he is seen as a peace-maker, but as soon as it is over, one expects the insidious anti-White multi-racialist propaganda to resume, which saw a half-caste Congolese woman represent the Ukraine in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. Expect the Ukrainian government to misdirect Ukrainian anger against their fellow Slavs though....