Cleverly wants rematch with Fonfara

By Boxing News - 10/17/2015 - Comments

1-KB7A6514By Scott Gilfoid: After losing a 12 round unanimous decision to #2 WBC 175lb contender Andrzej Fonfara (28-3, 16 KOs) last Friday night, former WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (29-3, 15 KOs) is saying that he’s be interested in a rematch.

Cleverly suffered a broken nose in the 7th and wound up losing by the scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 116-112 at the UIC Pavilion, in Chicago, Illinois, USA. The punch output between the two fighters was extremely high with 2,524 punches thrown.

“[I’m] Overwhelmed with the support. Thank you. I gave it everything. Nose broke in 7th but that’s boxing. Respect to Fonfara. I would love to do it again,” Cleverly said on his Twitter.

It’s going to be difficult to lure the 27-year-old Fonfara into giving Cleverly a rematch because he’s looking to get a world title shot against WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson.

Fonfara was already beaten by Stevenson a year ago, and he’d like a second chance at fighting him so he can avenge his loss. The only reason why it would be interesting for Fonfara to fight Cleverly a second time is if the money was good enough for him to go backwards with his career instead of forwards.

YouTube video

Al Haymon of Premier Boxing Champions would need to make it worthwhile for Fonfara to fight Cleverly a second time. A rematch would likely bring in good ratings because boxing fans would likely be interested in seeing a second fight between them.

I don’t see a rematch between Cleverly and Fonfara playing out any different than last night’s fight. Fonfara hits too hard for Cleverly to handle him, and I suspect he’ll gas out like he did last night.

Cleverly’s broken nose is going to need time to heal. We’re probably talking about a good four months before Cleverly will be able to start training again to fight.

“I think he [Cleverly] gains everybody’s respect because he’s put up a great fight,” Bellew said via Sky Sports. “You may not personally like someone but ultimately I do respect him. Hopefully we’ll see him back. I would like to see him, maybe in a Fonfara rematch.”

Well, Cleverly can’t move his career in the forward gear until he proves that he can beat Fonfara.

If Cleverly’s promoter Eddie Hearn tried to advance him forward against an arguably better fighter than Fonfara like Artur Beterbiev, Eleider Alvarez, Jean Pascal, or Sullivan Barrera, I think it would end in a disaster for Cleverly. Those guys are just too talented and powerful for Cleverly in my view.



Comments are closed.