By Scott Gilfoid: Former WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (26-1, 12 KO’s) successfully weighed in on Friday for his clash on Saturday in his cruiserweight debut against 39-year-old Sean Corbin (17-4, 12 KO’s) at the Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. Cleverly weighed in at 198.5 lbs, and looked huge compared to the skinny look that he had while fighting in the 175 lb division in the past.
Cleverly will likely bulk up even more after he rehydrates for the fight on Saturday, so you can expect him to look even bigger than he was at the weigh-in. For his part, Corbin weighed in slightly less at 195.7 lbs.
Oddly enough, Corbin looked like the younger fighter than the 27-year-old Cleverly despite being 12 years older than him at 39. That doesn’t mean Corbin is going to win the fight, but it was kind of strange how much younger he looked than Cleverly. Corbin is obviously a guy that is being brought in to give Cleverly a decent fight, but he’s not someone that is expected to beat him. Cleverly’s promoter Eddie Hearn is going to take it easy with him for a while before eventually matching him tough. My guess is Cleverly will be matched soft until he gets a title shot against one of the cruiserweight champions, and at that point he’ll either succeed or get blown out quickly like he was in his last fight against Sergey Kovalev last August.
Corbin has been knocked out three times in the last four years in losing to Karo Murat in 2 rounds, Dawid Kostecki in 4, and Mateusz Masternak in 9. Corbin was also knocked out by Tito Mendoza in 10 rounds in 2007. The chin is obviously Corbin’s weak spot. Corbin does have some power, so he could make this interesting if he jumps on Cleverly from the opening bell the way that Kovalev did in destroying him in 4 rounds, but I doubt Corbin will do this. He’ll likely fight slowly, and this will give Cleverly the upper hand so that he can dominate with his high punch volume.
With all the weight that Cleverly has put on, you’d think that he will punch harder now. But in looking at Cleverly workout and hit the mitts, he doesn’t look any more powerful than he was at light heavyweight. The only thing that’s different is that Cleverly is slower now. Whether his extra size will hurt him in the stamina department remains to be seen, but I can’t see it helping him.
“I think he’s [Corbin] a big guy, he’s a tall guy,” Cleverly said. “He comes in shape, all muscles without an ounce of fat on him, and he’s going to give it a go. I think he’s going to be a strong guy, but I don’t think he’ll have my speed or my punch volume. I’ve been out of the ring for 9 months, but it’s taken me time into the cruiserweight division.”
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Gavin Rees will be facing Gary Buckland in a 12 round bout in light welterweight action on the undercard. WBC International featherweight champion Lee Selby will be defending his strap against Romulo Koasicha. Super middleweight prospect Callum Smuth will be facing Tobias Webb in a 10 round bout.
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