The action kicks off on BoxNation Sky ch 456 at 8.00pm on Saturday when Nathan Cleverly the welsh pugilist defends his WBO light heavyweight title against Liverpool’s own loudmouth Tony “Bomber” Bellew in a much anticipated (not by me!) grudge match.
Bellow currently is commonwealth light heavyweight champion “earned” his title shot by calling Cleverly a “f**ing Rat” at a press conference and strutting around press conferences like Liverpool’s own Al Capone.
He talks a good fight, almost as good a fight as David Haye, and we have heard him spout about him being a monster puncher and a masterful boxer. However there has been little evidence of this in the ring.
Last time out against Ovil Mckenzie, Bellew claimed it was a master class of boxing against one of the most avoided fighters in the country whereas in reality he just run away from a low grade puncher who at best isn’t even British title class. His epic struggle with opponent Bob Ajisafe was hilarious he just plodded around the ring like a mummy in a really bad horror film from the 1950`s with no real thought or plan and hope he could land one of his monster “bombs” which are only really monster shots inside his own mind.
I really expect Bellow to turn in a Haye style performance here I expect him to move around the rind and perhaps naively believing that he can nick the rounds by working in very short bursts like he did in his fight with Ovil Mckenzie.
That strategy will work for Bellew in most low grade fights but not against the likeable Cleverly who has really established himself as a the best light heavyweight in Europe. At least he now wants to test himself further having won the WBO strap in not the best of circumstances when previous champion Juergen Braehmer decided he didn’t fancy the job as is so often the case with the enigmatic German.
I think Cleverly isn’t happy with this defence as Bellew hasn’t really proved himself on the world stage and Cleverly wants to move on to bigger and better things.
I expect as is the norm with Cleverly, he will look to make life difficult for his opponent he will look to chase Bellew down and overwhelm him with a ridiculous work rate. He isn’t the biggest light heavyweight puncher around but against the scouser this won’t matter much as Bellew has proved he has a chin to match his ability.
I’m really expect Bellew to be proved to be out of his depth here and Cleverly to win this as he likes and the ref will wave this off around 6 rounds with an upright Bellew in his favourite ring move, complaining vehemently to the referee.
Daily Sport Recommended Bet:
2pts win Cleverly to win by ko/tko or DQ 6-5 William Hill
