I’m a boxing champ with a 100 per cent KO record and BEAT Oleksandr Usyk… here’s why Tyson Fury will defeat him too

ARTUR BETERBIEV stands as boxing’s only champion with a 100 per cent knockout ratio – while also holding a rare win over Oleksandr Usyk.

The feared Russian has 19 wins all inside the distance with unified WBC, IBF and WBO light-heavyweight belts to his name.

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Tyson Fury facing off with Oleksandr Usyk[/caption]

But he was also an established amateur boxer, winning gold and silver medals in world and European championships.

Beterbiev shared a rivalry in the unpaid ranks with Usyk, coming out a 2-1 loser in their three-bout series.

And in their 2011 AIBA world championship quarter-final in Baku, he dropped the Ukrainian with a body shot.

Reflecting on the bouts, he told Sky Sports: “That time my weight was only 83kgs. I’ve never been 90kgs in a fight.

“We had another fight too in the amateurs. There was a match [in Russia], I had fight with him there at 81kgs and I beat him on the first day.

“You know Oleksandr Usyk, he does his job very well. What I can say, good for him.”

Beterbiev, 38, returns on Saturday in a title defence against Britain’s Callum Smith, 33, in Canada.

Meanwhile Usyk, 36, faces Tyson Fury, 35, for the undisputed heavyweight crown on February 17 in Saudi Arabia.

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And Beterbiev backed Fury to defeat his old amateur rival.

He said: “I said when they fight, Oleksandr Usyk with Joshua, I said I think Joshua is going to win.

“I’m more for Joshua because he’s a real heavyweight. He’s not a cruiserweight.

“There’s a big difference. I say who is preparing well, will win. Now too, I think Tyson Fury is going to win. But who’s preparing well, he’s going to win.”

Artur Beterbiev is the unified light-heavyweight championRichard Pelham / The Sun