Sunday 16 October 2016 09:03, UK
After Tony Bellew explosively retained his WBC cruiserweight world title, we pick out five possible opponents for the Everton fan's next fight.
The Liverpool fighter retained his title with a sensational third round knockout win over BJ Flores at the Echo Arena on Saturday and immediately set about chasing down and calling out heavyweight David Haye.
A lucrative battle with bitter rival and former cruiserweight world champion Haye is top of the wishlist for 'Bomber', but he is not short of options...
Ever since Haye made his comeback to the boxing ring at the start of the year, following a three-and-a-half year spell out, Bellew has been on his back and has regularly called him out and criticised his recent choice of opponents.
Haye (28-2-KO26) is the former king of cruiserweight, having unified the WBC, WBA and WBO titles against Welshman Enzo Maccarinelli, and he soon moved up to win a world title at heavyweight where he took on and overcame a gigantic challenge in 7ft Russian Nikolai Valuev to win the WBA title.
Despite his career stalling after a succession of injuries, Haye is now back in business and Bellew is determined to get his bitter foe in the ring in what would be a massive domestic blockbuster clash.
The money would be there for a fight, as would the interest and demand, but one problem may be the weight in which it would be contested at.
The Latvian is the mandatory challenger to Bellew's WBC title so likeliest to be his next opponent. His run-out on Bellew's undercard suggests he carries a threat worth taking seriously.
The unbeaten Briedis bludgeoned Middlesbrough's Simon Vallily (previously perfect himself) inside three rounds, appearing determined to display the power in his fists. Briedis was at home in the pocket, where Bellew is also no stranger, so a future scrap could become a short-lived affair for someone…
Briedis is 31, and has been pro for seven years. His most recent two bouts before the weekend took place in his nation's capital of Riga and in May he stopped Olanrewaju Durodola to fill the WBC's mandatory position. Should he challenge Bellew in the UK it would be far from his first trip overseas - he has also boxed in Poland, the USA, Greece, Russia and Germany.
While he has never fought anyone of Bellew's calibre, Briedis is relatively damage-free and possesses the power in his punches to warrant taking seriously.
Lebedev is the IBF and WBA cruiserweight world champion and at 37, the Russian is one of the oldest current champions in the sport.
The southpaw has 29 wins from 31 fights and most recently stopped Argentinian Victor Emilio Ramirez in the second round of their May contest to add the IBF strap to his collection. A fight with Bellew could be extremely lucrative, with three of the four world titles on the line and 'Bomber' has, in the past, confessed his desires to unify the cruiserweight division.
If a fight were to happen then it would come down to whether Bellew and his team would be able to tempt the Russian out of his homeland comforts, as the Liverpool favourite has previously refused to defend his green belt in the Eastern European country.
It is six years since Lebedev last fought outside of Russia and on that occasion, he lost to WBO champ Marco Huck via a split decision in Germany, so he may be unlikely to leave again any time soon.
Usyk (10-0, 9 KO) is the current WBO world champion having beaten the previously undefeated Pole Krzysztof Glowacki to snatch the title out in Poland.
The Ukrainian southpaw had a spectacular amateur career, including winning world championship and Olympic gold, and is already considered to be one of the best, if not the best, cruiserweights in the division.
He was in imperious form in beating Glowacki and his southpaw style would be a handful for any challenger. A fight with Bellew would be an entertaining affair and if the 'Bomber' is intent on unifying the division, then he may opt to face the fierce Ukrainian.
These two just keep finding ways towards each other, don't they? A trilogy fight would conclude one of the nastiest rivalries in recent British history, but their respective world titles are currently a roadblock so Cleverly remains an outsider.
Wales' Cleverly became the WBA light-heavyweight champion earlier this month, outpointing Juergen Braehmer, and can you remember who was inside Sky Sports' studios that night? Bellew, who may reside in the division above, but could not resist passing comment on his old rival.
The weight divisions have always caused problems for these two, and it's likely a bigger issue than ever today because both find themselves as world champions. Cleverly beat Bellew at light-heavyweight five years ago, before the rematch was scheduled for cruiserweight and allowed the Liverpudlian to gain revenge.
Now both men are world champions in their preferred divisions a decider shouldn't be close - but don't underestimate how much Bellew and Cleverly may want to settle their bad blood.
