By Ian S Palmer
Nathan Cleverly will step back into the ring at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales this Saturday, May 17 when he takes on Sean Corbin of Guyana in a 12-round cruiserweight bout. The fight, which is for the vacant WBA Intercontinental Championship, can be seen live in the USA on the AWE network while British fans can catch all of the action on Sky Sports.
The 27-year-old Cleverly of Wales will be making his debut as a cruiserweight after moving up from the light heavyweight division. He was stopped in the fourth round by Sergey Kovalev last August and lost his WBO 175 lb title in the process. He’ll be entering the ring with a still-impressive record of 26-1 with 12 Kos. The 39-year year-old Corbin, who now fights out of Trinidad and Tobago, will go into the fight at 17-4 with 12 Kos on his record. This is Corbin’s sixth bout in the cruiserweight division.
Cleverly was one of Britain’s most promising up-and-comers until he ran into the freight train that is known as Sergey Kovalev. However, he’s still got enough promise and skills to rebound from that loss, especially against a fighter such as Corbin, who’s certainly not in the class of Kovalev. Cleverly took the loss pretty badly and he even thought about retirement following it. But if he loses to a lower class of boxer in Corbin, who knows how he’ll react.
It’s unclear if Cleverly is going to stay in the cruiserweight division or head back down to light heavyweight. However, the lighter weight class has some pretty solid champions with the likes of Kovalev, Bernard Hopkins and Adonis Stevenson all hold title belts. He’ll likely find the competition in the cruiserweight ranks a little bit easier. He’s scheduled to meet fellow Brit Tony Bellew in a rematch sometime soon after their 2011 bout was an entertaining affair. Cleverly took that one by majority decision.
If he can get by Corbin he’ll likely fight again in the summer before taking on Bellew. However, he shouldn’t look past Corbin on Saturday since the Guyanese fighter has decent power in his fists. The problem Corbin brings with him into this fight is his questionable chin. Cleverly isn’t a knockout puncher but if his opponent’s prone to going down he could become one on Saturday. All four of Corbin’s losses have come by way of stoppage.
He didn’t turn pro until he was 26 and he then took three years off after making his debut. He’s a big guy at 6-foot-3, but isn’t very mobile in the ring. He’s clearly being viewed as a hand-picked opponent by many fans and if Cleverly can’t get by him then his career’s in a bit of trouble for sure. Corbin is a naturally bigger man and Cleverly may not have the power and weight to be an effective cruiserweight.
Prediction
Corbin could be a hard guy to figure out early in the fight and he’s a dangerous puncher, but Cleverly should be able to do it after a few rounds. Cleverly isn’t likely going to have a lot of power in the higher weight division so should be looking to box rather than go for Corbin’s chin. If the knockout comes then it comes, but look for cleverly to take this contest by decision.
