Anybody giving Cleverly a chance on Friday?

[ruthless rocco]

Why did Cleverly abandon his jab after the 3rd?
He got the snot beat out of him from then on...

[Primo Carnera]

The old Cleverley would've won, but he's gone a long way down since then. I reckon he's mentally weak now unfortunately. I hope I'm wrong.

I haven't seen the fight , but from the comments on here, I couldn't be more wrong. "Mentally weak?" I owe the guy a massive apology.
I'm happy to be wrong on this occasion, and as long as he can get that frame of his down to 175 and wants to fight, why not?
Even though he lost, I'm really pleased for him.
That is a hell of a lot of punches thrown for light heavies. Can't wait to see the fight now.

[superheavyrhun]

Very impressive effort on both sides, and while Fonfara went for volume, as the stats show he wasn't landing as frequently with what he threw, with the total landed being nearly the same. Personally, I thought it could have gone either way, and home advantage and the broken nose probably edged it for Fonfara.

Nonetheless, it was great to see Cleverly actually fighting with relish and enthusiasm again, he just seemed to have lost his way a bit. If Fonfara goes after Kovalev or a Stephenson rematch, then Cleverly v Braehmer would be a nice fight.

[ruthless rocco]

Fonfara showed he's the better and smarter fighter. He was able to adapt to Cleverly's style while Cleverly fell into Fonfara's trap.
After the 2nd round , whenever Cleverly started to score on Fonfara, Fonfara would back up until Cleverly was at the end of his punches and just walking into his power shots. Cleverly took a lot of punishment by staying on the inside when his best chance of winning was to keep Fonfara on the end of his jab. Instead Fonfara flipped the script and kept Cleverly on the end of his punches and when Cleverly covered up he just destroyed him on the inside. Cleverly showed he's tough, but not very smart or adaptive.

[beenKOed]

Fonfara showed he's the better and smarter fighter. He was able to adapt to Cleverly's style while Cleverly fell into Fonfara's trap.
After the 2nd round , whenever Cleverly started to score on Fonfara, Fonfara would back up until Cleverly was at the end of his punches and just walking into his power shots. Cleverly took a lot of punishment by staying on the inside when his best chance of winning was to keep Fonfara on the end of his jab. Instead Fonfara flipped the script and kept Cleverly on the end of his punches and when Cleverly covered up he just destroyed him on the inside. Cleverly showed he's tough, but not very smart or adaptive.

Cleverly wins that fight without the broken nose, there is no question about that in my mind. His punch output went down, in the second half, because he was protecting that broken nose. Did he get the broken nose on the inside or the outside?
Even with the broken nose, one of the most painful and bothersome injuries a fighter can fight through, he was still involved in a record breaking fight. Three winners in that fight, Fonfara, Cleverly, and boxing fans in my opinion.

[Tam Seddon]

Fonfara showed he's the better and smarter fighter. He was able to adapt to Cleverly's style while Cleverly fell into Fonfara's trap.
After the 2nd round , whenever Cleverly started to score on Fonfara, Fonfara would back up until Cleverly was at the end of his punches and just walking into his power shots. Cleverly took a lot of punishment by staying on the inside when his best chance of winning was to keep Fonfara on the end of his jab. Instead Fonfara flipped the script and kept Cleverly on the end of his punches and when Cleverly covered up he just destroyed him on the inside. Cleverly showed he's tough, but not very smart or adaptive.

Cleverly wins that fight without the broken nose, there is no question about that in my mind. His punch output went down, in the second half, because he was protecting that broken nose. Did he get the broken nose on the inside or the outside?
Even with the broken nose, one of the most painful and bothersome injuries a fighter can fight through, he was still involved in a record breaking fight. Three winners in that fight, Fonfara, Cleverly, and boxing fans in my opinion.

Im sure it was a right uppercut on the inside that did the damage.

[ruthless rocco]

Fact is Cleverly lost the fight because he stopped boxing and decided to trade in the inside with a fighter with greater endurance, stamina, and punching power.
You can say he would have won without the broken nose but it was his abandoning of the jab that lead to the broken nose.
I don't see how this could be considered a win for Cleverly. Only a Brit would think that. He got beat down. He's lucky to have been fighting in America in the UK this fight probably would have been stopped.

[Kirkland Laing]

So I did watch this fight last night. Posted pictures and everything. How about that.

[imp]

Kovalev destroyed cleverly forever.

Seeing Calzaghe upset outside the ring that night made me wonder how he would have fought kovalev that night.

[Gandalf]

Kovalev destroyed cleverly forever.

Seeing Calzaghe upset outside the ring that night made me wonder how he would have fought kovalev that night.

Kovalev is very good, but I don't think he has ever faced a style like that of Joe Calzaghe. I can see Calzaghe going down, but he gets up and finds a way. Unless you can keep Calzaghe down and nobody has, then he is going to get up and outwork you. I could see Calzaghe boxing Kovalev a little bit like he did with Kessler, a slow start as he feels his man out, and sees what his punch is like and then up the tempo until the other man just cannot keep up. Kovalev is a mean man, but Calzaghe is the greatest fighter of all time.

[Fenster]

Good fight. Cleverly showed he's not mentally shot, he looked like a character from Fight Club - he enjoyed getting smashed in the face. Anyway, even in defeat he'll get other big fights of that back of that.

[Primo Carnera]

Kovalev destroyed cleverly forever.

Seeing Calzaghe upset outside the ring that night made me wonder how he would have fought kovalev that night.

Kovalev is very good, but I don't think he has ever faced a style like that of Joe Calzaghe. I can see Calzaghe going down, but he gets up and finds a way. Unless you can keep Calzaghe down and nobody has, then he is going to get up and outwork you. I could see Calzaghe boxing Kovalev a little bit like he did with Kessler, a slow start as he feels his man out, and sees what his punch is like and then up the tempo until the other man just cannot keep up. Kovalev is a mean man, but Calzaghe is the greatest fighter of all time.

That's a Claim!

[Master]

Kovalev would have smashed Joe at light heavyweight. Joe only beat old Hopkins and Roy.

[Gandalf]

Revisionism. Kovalev has only beaten a 50 year old Hopkins and still went the distance. He's good but he will get tested and revisionism will work on him too.

[Master]

Revisionism. Kovalev has only beaten a 50 year old Hopkins and still went the distance. He's good but he will get tested and revisionism will work on him too.

Forget revisionism, it is harsh reality. Joe was past his best at a higher weight and was knocked down in those fights.