Welsh ace Nathan Cleverly suffers painful defeat in Chicago

(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.

Fonfara was able gain momentum back with the same offense he’d used from the beginning – well timed and precise punches stemming from a combination that Cleverly had absolutely no answer for. Cleverly won rounds by throwing punches from awkward angles and by countering effectively. Fonfara closed the show in a big way in the 12th, punctuating the fight with a barrage that sent Cleverly back into the corner for a pummeling as the bell rang.

Cleverly took a pounding, bleeding heavily from his nose and ear, but his stock suffered no damage with a performance that pushed Fonfara to the brink. According to CompuBox, 2,524 punches were thrown and 936 landed, both numbers being records for a 175-pound bout. Kono was defending his WBA 115-pound titlist against the former three-division world champ, the first time ever that two Japanese fighters challenged for a world title outside of Japan. Kono was hurt badly by what looked like a left hook to the liver late in the second and as he grimaced in pain and clutched the right side of his body, Kameda closed in for the kill. The fight was shaping up to be a rough and tumble affair, for certain, but Ruiz only made things worse by deducting two points from Kameda in just the third round of the bout for low blows. Moments later, Kono rallied to floor Kameda (33-2, 18 KOs) with straight right hand. The two fighters landed a combined 679 punches, the second highest total in CompuBox history in the super flyweight division.

“This is going to be a great fight”. He was taking a lot of punches and not breaking down. I want him to be in top shape, because I want to fight the best Cleverly of his career.

“I thought I would knock him out before the fight, but during the fight I realized he has great defense”. We have our game plan and I’m more than ready for this fight. “I respect him very much”. “But I thought I had him until the nose went, and I think that without that, I could’ve got the win”.

“We are both tall guys, strong guys, good punchers and I’m happy Cleverly is ready for this fight too”.

“I got the feeling I broke his nose around the seventh or eighth round”.

“Suddenly I was presented with this fantastic opportunity to come to America and showcase in a big fight against Fonfara”.

Kono threw nonstop punches in rounds 10 through 12 to win the championship rounds.

However, Cleverly thinks victory over such a tough opponent could set up a huge fight with Adonis Stevenson or a rematch with Sergey Kovalev. I’m 200 percent confident I’m going to win.