Nathan Cleverly vs. Tony Bellew
Photo by Lawrence Lustig
Tony Calcara, Staff Writer
Tough, tough fight to call. I like Tony Bellew in the rematch.
Nathan Cleverly won the first installment and the animosity between the two could very possibly lead to a third and decisive rubber match.
Prediction: Bellew
Lou Catalano, Senior Writer
Nathan Cleverly defeated Tony Bellew three years ago in a fun fight, and since then he’s been utterly destroyed by Sergey Kovalev, while Bellew got housed by Adonis Stevenson.
All that really proves is that neither guy can defeat the best fighters at Light Heavyweight. The good news is that these two have shown enough enmity toward each other to last a few decades, so the rematch should be pretty damn entertaining.
While Bellew would seem to have the advantage now that the fight is going to be held at Cruiserweight, Cleverly beat him once already, and I don’t see a reason why he’d lose this time around.
I’m going with Cleverly by razor-thin decision.
Prediction: Cleverly
Brandon Glass, Contributing Writer
Unfortunately, I haven’t seen much of these two guys except for losses on the international stage. I wish I had more access to fights across the pond. I witnessed both Nathan Cleverly losing to Sergey Kovalev by a “krushing” KO and Bellew getting pummeled by Adonis “Superman” Stevenson.
I’m not going to pretend to know more than I do about these guys than I actually do. I think if Cleverly won the first, everything is on Bellew to right that wrong. So I’m rolling with Cleverly.
Prediction: Cleverly
Lauren Pinkerton, Staff Writer
Nathan Cleverly has been boasting that this will end in a vicious knockout, but I have a feeling this is going to be another 12 round fight.
He couldn’t get the KO in the first fight, and he’s not going to get it now. As far as this rematch moving from the Light Heavyweight division to Cruiserweight, I don’t see this as a advantage or disadvantage for either one.
Both have moved on to other fighters, and both have won the majority of those fights. It may be a different weight class, but it’s still the same fighters, and it will still end the same.
Prediction: Cleverly
Alex Burgos, Editor-in-Chief
Like others have said, I think this is a tough fight to call. This is a grudge match between two guys who genuinely don’t like each other. That disdain seems to run deeper for Tony Bellew, who lost the first time around against Nathan Cleverly and seemingly has more to prove.
Cleverly has a lot to fight for as well as he continues to try and build his rep back as a guy with a solid chin and superior boxing ability. Bellew is not Sergey Kovalev, but he can bang. The problem for me is that I think the hometown crowd and emotions may get the best of Bellew as he tries to score a sensational knockout.
If Clev can weather the storm early on, I think he’ll take advantage of a tired Bellew and possibly even stop him. On a side not, props to AWE for airing this fight in the U.S.!
Prediction: Cleverly
