By Ian S Palmer
Nathan Cleverly of Wales will be taking on Tony Bellew of England in an all-British matchup cruiserweight this Saturday, November 22 at the Echo Arena in Liverpool. This is a rematch of their 2011 fight in which Cleverly won by a majority decision. This 12-round bout can be seen live in the United Kingdom on the Sky Sports pay-per-view platform. The 27-year-old Cleverly will be entering the ring with an impressive record of 28-1 with 14 Kos while the 31-year-old Bellew is 22-2-1 and also has 14 Kos to his name.
Both boxers attempted to win world titles after their first meeting, but were unsuccessful. Cleverly was blown out in four rounds by current WBO, IBF and WBA Champion Sergey Kovalev and WBC Champion Adonis Stevenson stopped Bellew in the sixth round of their bout. After losing in their world-title attempts they both also moved up to the cruiserweight division and are now set to meet each other again at the heavier weight.
The first Cleverly vs Bellew was interesting and entertaining, but it wasn’t a classic. However, the combatants have been going at each other in the media ever since and it was inevitable that a rematch would take place sooner or later. The heavier weight may have slowed Bellew down slightly, but he does carry a rather powerful punch as a cruiserweight. Cleverly has the same number of Kos as his Liverpool opponent, but doesn’t really possess the same power.
Since he was successful outworking Bellew in the first meeting we should expect to see Cleverly try to outbox him again this time. This should be more of a tactical boxing match than a brawl as they both have good technical skills and like to press the action. However, expect to see the determined and gritty Bellew try to pick up the pace and go for broke if he enters the latter rounds behind on the scorecards.
Cleverly has good head movement, footwork, intelligence, quick hands and a superb jab. He doesn’t mind the infighting and is good from long range as well. He turned pro back in 2005 and won the British and Commonwealth titles in 2009 and added the European crown a year later. He won the interim WBO world light heavyweight title on 2010 with a 12-round unanimous decision over Nadjib Mohammedi and defended it several times.
Bellew turned pro in 2007 and is a former British and European champion who stands 6-feet-3-inches tall with a 74-inch reach. Cleverly is just over 6-feet-1 and also has a 74-inch reach. Both boxers have so-so chins as they’ve been to the canvas before and stopped, but Bellew also has the advantage of fighting at home here and should have the majority of the crowd support.
Prediction
If Bellew has added some power by moving up in weight it could turn out to be the difference in this fight. He could also be more motivated than Cleverly since he’s looking to avenge his loss. Cleverly will attempt to box his opponent while Bellew may look to turn this fight into more of a slugfest than their first meeting. This should be another close contest though, but Bellew, with the home crowd behind him, should be able to pull out a close decision or late stoppage to even things up.
