Nathan Cleverly, a former WBO Light Heavyweight champ, will be meeting with Andrzej Fonfara on October 16th at a Chicago venue. Since losing his strap to Sergey Kovalev in 2013, the Welshman had a brief stint at Cruiserweight which included TKO wins over Shawn Corbin, Alejandro Valori and Tomas Man, and a Split Decision defeat to rival Tony Bellew.
When Cleverly’s eyes meet with Fonfara, he will be campaigning back at Light Heavyweight, a division he has fought in for the best part of his career. Cleverly will no doubt have his doubters going into this fight, but at 28-years-old, it would be unfair to write the guy off. The Caerphilly-born fighter is still a capable boxer, and a win would not be considered a major upset. Just unlikely.
Cleverly may not be known far beyond UK shores, but the same can’t be said for Poland’s Fonfara. The 27-year-old made international headlines when he lost to – but knocked down – Adonis Stevenson in May 2014, and most notably when he Retired Julio Cesar Chavez Jr last April. And that is why the Pole is tipped to emerge victorious in October.
A little tidbit: both Cleverly and Fonfara have beaten Tommy Karpency, the fringe contender who is set to challenge Adonis Stevenson on September 11th. What does this mean? Quite simply that Stevenson should be facing someone a lot more capable – especially in what will be his 6th title defense.
Who are you picking here? Can Nathan Cleverly recapture the limelight he’s been chasing since being crushed by Kovalev? Or will the rugged Andrzej Fonfara take care of business?
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Peter Quillin will be getting a crack at another title against Daniel Jacobs on December 5th at the Barclays Center. That is, if Quillin gets past minor speed bump Michael Zerafa on September 12th, Dan Rafael reports (we don’t see an upset on the cards, and are prepared to eat our proverbial hat if Quillin loses).
Here’s what Rafael had to say recently on Twitter:
Dan Rafael (@danrafaelespn): The date for @DanielJacobsTKO vs @KIDCHOCOLATE, assuming Quillin wins next month, is Dec 5. Barclays Center is on hold. TV net TBA. #boxing
Quillin fought to a Draw against Andy Lee in April, failing to capture the Irishman’s WBO title. Quillin remained undefeated, only losing by a razor’s edge, but suffered a significant career setback nonetheless. Such is the brutal nature of a loss in boxing.
The Chicago-born fighter will be looking to re-energize his career by conquering WBA belt-holder Jacobs. The more sensible money would go on Quillin winning this bout, but a fellow boxer-puncher like Jacobs poses a serious threat. It was just a shame more questions couldn’t have been answered in his short-lived encounter with Sergio Mora earlier this month.
Given the firepower of Quillin and Jacobs, this could shape up to be the years ‘other Golovkin-Lemieux/Cotto-Canelo‘. The winner of this fight will of course be shortlisted to face a winner of the aforementioned mega matches. And if any of those match-ups can be made, then 2015/2016 will be a bona fide banner period of Middleweight boxing.
Our dosh is on Peter Quillin outsmarting and halting Daniel Jacobs in the mid-to-late rounds. What about yourselves?
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