By Scott Gilfoid: Tony Bellew (21-2-1, 13 KO’s) and Nathan Cleverly (27-1, 13 KO’s) have their opponents picked out for next month’s July 12th card at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK. Bellew will be fighting fringe contender Julio Cesar Dos Santos (26-2, 23 KO’s), while Cleverly will be fighting little known Argentinian Alejandro Emilio Valori (15-4, 11 KO’s).
Both fights are scheduled for 12 rounds, although it’s unlikely that either of them will get anywhere close to the 12th due to the fights being mismatches.
Dos Santos, 36, is ranked at #11 by the WBO, but he’s not ranked in the top 15 by any of the other world sanctioning bodies. In looking at his record, it’s not surprising that he’s not ranked by the other sanctioning bodies because not taken on the quality opposition that one would need to get ranked high by all the sanctioning bodies. He did try and step it up a level last year in facing Dmytro Kucher, but he was beaten by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision by the scores 120-108, 120-108 and 120-108.
Cleverly’s opponent Alejandro Emilio Valori, 31, appears to be on the same level as his last opponent Shawn Corbin, who Cleverly knocked out in 2 rounds last May. Valori has faced obscure opposition his entire 6-year pro career. He was knocked out in the 4th round by someone named Marcos Antonio Ahumada last year.
Bellew and Cleverly will be fighting later this year in a rematch in October. The two fought three years ago with Cleverly outworking Bellew to beat him by a 12 round majority decision. The fact that the two fighters are meeting up now three years later without a world title strap on the line gives you a pretty good indication of where their careers are at right now.
The idea behind Cleverly and Bellew fighting on the same card on July 12th is to get fans excited about seeing them fight each other instead of some of the top contenders in the division. I think it’s pretty important for them to face each other now because the odds are very high that one or both of them will be picked off if and when they eventually get put in with a decent contender at cruiserweight. However, I don’t expect either Bellew or Cleverly to be put in with a live body before they each get a world title shot in a year or two. I can’t see that happening, because the risk would be too high for them to get beaten again.
After 2 years as the WBO 175-pound champion, in which he fought largely weak opposition, Cleverly finally fought a good light heavyweight in Sergey Kovalev and was blasted out in the 4th round. The outcome was predictable given Cleverly’s lack of power and his bad habit of leading with his chin.
Cleverly had never fought anyone remotely good enough to get him prepared for what he would be dealing with in Kovalev, and that’s pretty much why Cleverly got beaten so easily. The years of soft match-making helped make Cleverly a champion, but it hadn’t prepared him to beat an actual live body that could fight.
Also on the July 12th card are the following fights:
Anthony Joshua vs. Matt Skelton
Rocky Fielding vs Noe Gonzalez Alcoba
Callum Smith vs. Vladine Biosse
Paul Smith vs. TBA
Stephen Smith vs. TBA
Chris Jenkins vs. TBA
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