At the UIC Pavilion, Chicago, boxing fans were treated to a couple of very memorable gems in the action-packed PBC world title double-header. In headliner Fonfara vs Cleverly, Britiain’s Nathan Cleverly put in a bold, brave account of himself, boxing well for the first half of the fight before being overwhelmed by Fonfara’s power in the second portion.
Official scores came in at 115-113 and 116-112 (twice). Following the non-title Light Heavyweight encounter, Fonfara moves up to 28 wins, 16 knockouts, 3 defeats, while Cleverly drops to 29 wins, 15 knockouts, 2 defeats.
For the first 5 or so rounds, it seemed former WBO champ Cleverly was about to have his way for the first on US soil, scoring with a superb crisp jab and also throwing in some hook-featured combinations in an attempt to break through Fonfara’s signature high guard.
For a while, it worked. But shortly after that, and most notably in the 7th round, Fonfara began to increase the pressure. Fonfara upped his punch volume and, after making Cleverly’s nose a bloody mess following a right-uppercut, never stopped chasing down his man. Cleverly bit down on his gum shield and fought back, but was no match for Fonfara in those later rounds.
Fonfara vs Cleverly was a close fight in terms of competition, but there was no mistaking the victor at the final bell. Fonfara will have steered himself headfirst into another a big stage headliner in the near future, maybe even getting his dream rematch against Adonis Stevenson. As for Cleverly, not all is lost. The Welshman left it all in the ring tonight, showed his heart, and will be remembered both by Al Haymon and PBC. He’ll likely be back stateside before too long.
Fonfara vs Cleverly Undercard: Kono vs Kameda
In the co-feature, fans witnessed another back-and-forth showdown in Kono vs Kameda. The Junior Bantamweights, who traded blows over 12 action-packed rounds for Kono’s WBA Junior Bantamweight title, were well matched to say the least. Kono defended his coveted trophy after landing scores of 115-109, 116-108 and 113-111. These scores aren’t controversial per se, but obviously don’t reflect the competitive nature of what unfolded in Chicago.
Kohei Kono now improves to 31 wins, 13 knockouts, 8 defeats, 1 draw, while Koki Kameda falls to 33 wins, 18 knockouts, 2 defeats.
The only thing that marred this fight was an overly involved referee who couldn’t resist landing his own blows – in the form of seemingly unnecessary warnings and point deductions. Kono vs Kameda was shaping up to be a bit of a rough-and-tumble affair in first few rounds, sure. Kameda did land some low-looking blows in the 3rd round, but taking away two points seemed totally unwarranted.
Then, later in the 9th, the referee decided to deduct a point from Kono for doing…well, I don’t actually know what that ‘something’ was. Stranger stuff has happened, I guess. Anyway, ugly rulings aside, Kono and Kameda produced a real barnburner of a show. Both men had success with their offense, but it was arguably Kono’s greater workrate that paid dividends in the end. His body blows, in particular, were eye-catching. Oh, and I should probably mention the champ knocked down Kameda in the 2nd round – apologies for the brain lapse there…
What’s your take on Fonfara vs Cleverly and Kono vs Kameda? How did you score the fights? And could we have a couple of potential rematch candidates here?
