By Scott Gilfoid: WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (26-0, 12 KO’s) isn’t known for being a puncher. In fact, he’s more known for being a guy that throws a lot of punches per round, and takes a lot of head shots in the process. His defense has always been his offense in addition to his ability to take awful punishment to the head.
This is why it’s kind of interesting to hear Cleverly predicting a knockout win for himself over his opponent Sergey Kovalev (21-0-1, 19 KO’s) for this Saturday at the Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales, UK.
Cleverly said to BoxNation “I plan on winning the fight, but I believe I can take him out. I’m going to take him into the trenches.”
If Cleverly honestly takes Kovalev into the trenches like he’s been blathering about, I can see Cleverly’s career being shortened from this fight. Let’s get this straight right away: Cleverly will not knockout Kovalev; that’s not going to happen in this lifetime. If Cleverly wins, it’ll be by decision after taking some terrible punishment to the head for 12 rounds; the kind of punishment that shortens your career.
That is the only way Cleverly wins, and even with that, I see it as a controversial decision where Kovalev does enough to deserve the win, Cleverly gets the victory. But I really don’t see the judges having anything to do with this fight, because Kovalev knows what he’s up against by agreeing to take the fight in Wales.
He’s not going to let the judges have anything to do this fight other than sit and watch like the other spectators at the Motorpoint Arena. Kovalev is going to go after Cleverly and knock him out cold in order to get the win, take the judges out of it, and remove all doubts.
I can see how Cleverly might badly want to get a knockout in this fight more than any other fight in his career, because he’s got to know that if this fight goes 12 rounds, he’s going to take a major, major beating from Kovalev. I mean, I’d be the same way as Cleverly if I was fighting Kovalev.
I’d want to try and KO him immediately just so I wouldn’t have to get hit him for 12 rounds. With Kovalev’s power, he can hurt you both ways by knocking you out or simply by smashing you to the head for 12 rounds. It’s a lot healthier for you if you can get to him early before he starts wearing you out with head shots.
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