After Welshman Nathan Cleverly battled valiantly to lose a decision to Andrzej Fonfara in their PBC light-heavyweight clash in Chicago last night, bitter rival Tony Bellew has spoken out to say that ‘he deserves respect.’
Bellew and Cleverly are 1 a piece in their own 175/200 lb rivalry, their last fight being November 2014’s PPV bore-fest at cruiser, which the Scouser eventually did enough to win by split decision in front of his hometown fans.
Every few years in the sport of boxing a changing of the guard takes place, and for every Ali ushered into retirement, there’s a Tyson waiting to take over. The retirement of Floyd Mayweather remains a question to some, but eager to take his place is a number of young lions with nothing to lose and everything to prove. Tonight, the man who many have placed atop that movement will face his fiercest test to date, as the ‘Kazakhstan Killa’, Gennady G. Golovkin (33-0, 30KO’s) takes on David Lemieux (34-2, 31KO’s). As we lead up to this epic clash, lets take a look at keys to victory, four critical game-changer’s to explore, and an official prediction:
By Paul “Paparazzi” Jones and Justin Jones | Photo © Paul “Paparazzi” Jones
WASHINGTON, DC — On October 17, former IBF Jr. Welterweight Champ Lamont “Havoc” Peterson (33-3-1, 17 KOs) and unbeaten Felix Díaz Jr. (17-0, 8 KOs) headline the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on NBC telecast in a 12-round bout from the EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia. A Peterson victory would not only put his winning percentage above .500 in his past five bouts, but it could also clear the way to several attractive match-ups against top-tier opposition from 140-147 pounds.
British welterweight champion, Sam Eggington, is determined to send a message to ‘injured’ rival, Frankie Gavin tonight in Birmingham, by beating former foe and late notice opponent Dale Evans in style.
Gavin pulled out with 10 days to go until fight night, ostensibly due to a foot injury, although he has been pictured sparring since and was tweeting about being on his morning run just yesterday, prompting ‘conspiracy theorists’ to go into overdrive regarding the legitimacy of the injury given the fight is to be rescheduled for Matchroom’s December 12 PPV from London – a card promoter Eddie Hearn needs to stack.
WBC super-middleweight champion, Badou Jack, has stated that he is keen on a unification fight with Britain’s IBF champion, James DeGale in the future, though has admitted he may end up fighting Julio Cesar Chavez Jr first.
Jack recently beat DeGale’s bitter rival George Groves in Las Vegas on the Floyd Mayweather/Andre Berto bill, and is keen to get his hands on the Beijing 2008 gold medalist for a unification next year, provided ‘Chunky’ gets past Canada’s Lucien Bute on Nov. 28 first.
WBA interim super middleweight champion Vincent Feigenbutz (20-1, 19 KOs) will be taking a risky fight against #13 WBA Giovanni De Carolis (23-5, 11 KOs) this Saturday night on October 17th at the DM-Arena, Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It wouldn’t be a risky fight for some of the more established and talented 168lb fighters in the division like Arthur Abraham, Badou Jack, James DeGale and Andre Dirrell, but it’s a risky fight for the 20-year-old Feigenbutz, because he’s so raw at this point in his career.
(Photo: David Earnisse/PBS) Hometown-favorite Andrzej Fonfara (28-3 16 KOs) out-slugged former world champion Nathan Cleverly (29-3, 15 KOs) over 12 grueling rounds on his way to a unanimous decision on Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on Spike from the UIC Pavilion in Chicago. Fonfara and Cleverly exchanged punches throughout the night with neither man yielding an inch of ground. Cleverly won rounds by throwing punches from awkward angles and by countering effectively. Fonfara never seemed phased by Cleverly’s power however, and was able to impose his will as the fight wore on.
(Photo credit: David Earnisse/Premier Boxing Champions) Former WBO 175lb champion Nathan Cleverly (29-3, 15 KOs) fought as well as he could for the first six rounds tonight against #2 WBC, #5 IBF light heavyweight contender Andrzej Fonfara (28-3, 16 KOs), but he was eventually worn down by the hard hitting Polish fighter and beaten by a 12 round unanimous decision on Premier Boxing Champions on Spike TV from the UIC Pavilion, in Chicago, Illinois.
“Fighting in front of a hometown crowd is exciting just like it is in any other sport. You have a home field advantage, a home court advantage and in boxing, you have home ring advantage.” – Lamont Peterson
Lamont Peterson (33-3-1, 17 KOs) and Olympic Gold Medalist Felix Diaz Jr.(17-0, 8 KOs) are set to enter the ring at EagleBank Arena at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, the fighters hosted a press conference at The Hamilton Live in downtown Washington, DC. The Saturday afternoon Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on NBC event will air live with televised coverage beginning at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.
Saturday’s HBO Pay-Per-View® quadruple-header airs live beginning at 9:00 p.m./6:00 p.m. (ET/PT). HBO Pay-Per-View kicks off live coverage from Madison Square Garden in New York when Tureano Johnson squares off against Eamonn O’Kane for 12 rounds in the middleweight division. Undefeated Luis Ortiz takes on Matias Vidondo in a 12-round heavyweight showdown.