Initially touted for an October rematch, Tony Bellew believes there is no chance we’ll see Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury run it back that quickly.

Usyk became the first man to defeat Fury, scoring a knockdown on the way to a split decision victory – resulting in the first undisputed heavyweight champion for nearly 25 years.

Both men had a contracted rematch clause going into the first encounter and, with the way the fight unfolded, there won’t be too many fans upset at the idea of seeing it again.

‘They Gypsy King’ didn’t take long to announce his decision, with promoter Frank Warren confirming the Brit ‘badly’ wants to avenge his loss, with a targeted date of October.

“The rematch will be in October, Tyson confirmed that yesterday. I told him to really think about it before he did it, but he wants it and he wants it badly and that’s where we are.”

Speaking to Eddie Hearn on his ‘Club Bellew’ podcast, ‘The Bomber’ says he ‘knows’ that both men won’t be ready in that timeframe,

“Usyk has been in camp for eight months. No [Fury and Usyk won’t be ready for October]. I know it, I know it – they will not be ready for October, neither of them.”

Bellew would rather see Usyk hang up the gloves having ‘completed the game’

“I hope Usyk retires. He’s financially secure, we dealt with his team, he’s never been in it for the money and he could never spend what he’s made even if he wanted to. Alarm bells were ringing a little bit when he said in the press conference how hard camp was.

He’s the best heavyweight in the world and has completed the game.”

It looks like Bellew’s prediction might be right, with Fury’s US promoter, Bob Arum, suggesting the rematch is more likely for November or December.