In the twilight of his career, Tony Bellew is preparing for arguably his toughest fight yet when he takes on Oleksandr Usyk.

'The Bomber' has dropped back down to cruiserweight in order to face the undisputed world champion in Manchester on Saturday night.

Few expected the 35-year-old to be in contention for the Ukrainian's belts.

When he beat David Haye - twice - it seemed the perfect moment for him to hang up his gloves.

Indeed, Bellew himself had intimated he would not be carrying on in the sport because he did not want his family to have to continue worrying about his safety.

As it has transpired, the opportunity to make a mark on Usyk was too good to turn down - but does he have a realistic chance of beating him?

This is a man who has consistently defied the odds throughout his career and it's going to take something special.

However, Carl Froch believes the incentive to go out on a high could actually inspire Bellew to a victory.

Froch has made his prediction 

"You think to yourself, as hurtful as the strength and conditioning sessions are, as much as the sparring hurts, actually this is the last time I'm going to do it," writes Froch in his Sky Sports column.

"That makes you train harder, because you think 'I'm not going to do this again, so let's have a good one.'"

Bellew's reputation as a big puncher will be tested by Usyk, who has won all of his 15 fights so far, 11 of them by knockout.

"If Tony can work to a game plan, which might be - get your gloves up high, don't get hit with silly shots, and back up Usyk for five or six rounds.

"Put pressure on him by using your feet, get in his face. You might lose the rounds, but you can try to exhaust him for the second half of the fight.

"Bellew has then got that punch, and if he lands that left hook, Usyk will be out cold. I know he will, because Bellew is a massive puncher.

"You know what, people are underestimating Bellew's boxing ability...I'm hopeful that Tony can knock out Usyk, and cause a massive upset that would turn him into a superstar."

GiveMeBet have a Bellew victory by KO at 6/1 and it would be disappointing from Usyk's point of view if he did suffer a first career defeat in that manner.

It's a huge call from Froch but plenty of Bellew fans will be backing him to cause an upset - and then, the only question will be whether he defends his belts. 

Do you think Bellew could knock out Usyk? Have your say in the comments.