Cleverly vs. Fonfara on February 25th: A nice mismatch for Nathan

By Boxing News - 12/13/2011 - Comments

Image: Cleverly vs. Fonfara on February 25th: A nice mismatch for NathanBy Scott Gilfoid: WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (23-0, 11 KO’s) is facing a slightly higher ranked opponent than last time out when he faces #9 ranked WBO contender Andrez Fonfara (19-2, 10 KO’s) on February 25th in Cleverly’s second title defense of his World Boxing Organization belt at the Moterpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales.

Although Cleverly faced #13 ranked Tony Bellew in his last fight, he’s still not fighting a top five challenger for some reason in this fight and it’s more than a little disappointing because it seems like a title milking fight.

Fonfara is ranked at #9, but in terms of overall light heavyweights, it would be difficult to see him even as ranked #25 in the division. This is simply a mismatch, but Cleverly perhaps deserves one because he looked bad in winning a controversial 12 round majority decision over Bellew last October. I saw the fight as a draw, and I thought Bellew was the much better puncher of the two by far.

Cleverly says he wants to face the best fighters in the division – Chad Dawson and Bernard Hopkins in late 2012 – but I think we saw in the Bellew fight that Cleverly would get wiped out by both of those fighters. He’s too slow, too easy to hit and too weak to compete with the very cream of the light heavyweight top in my estimation.

There’s not a lot to say about the 24-year-old Fonfara. He’s Polish, tall at 6’2”, not a huge puncher, slow, easy to hit and has faced largely 2nd and 3rd tier opposition his entire five year pro career. I can’t see any 1st tier opposition on his record and I can’t fathom why he’s ranked #9 by the WBO. Overall, I think he’s a good fighter for Cleverly to get a guaranteed win against. He’s no threat, so Cleverly should hold onto the WBO belt for a little while longer. I sure hope Cleverly faces a top five contender one of these days. I’d hate to see his career be fought against fringe contenders rather than a real threat.



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