Boxing preview: Nathan Cleverly v Tony Bellew

Boxing is never as simple as two men just getting in the ring and fighting, especially when Juergen Braehmer is involved. After having the better part of a year out due to injuries and legal battles Juergen Braehmer would pull out just days before a supposed title defence of the WBO Light Heavyweight title against Nathan Cleverly. Cleverly, who had been preparing for several months to face Braehmer has now seen a change of opponents with Liverpudlian Tony Bellew stepping in to fill the gap.

Braehmer's late pull out has seen Cleverly given the world title (he was previously the “interim” champion) and the Welshman will be defending the belt for the first time. Cleverly, 24, from Cefn Forest is unbeaten as a professional and has run up a record of 21-0 (10) having been a professional since 2005. He's an active type of fighter who although has great fundamental skills seems to resort to turning, or trying to turn, bouts in brawls as he did wonderfully against Karo Murat late last year. Though he has been hurt and frustrated by opponents in the past, Joey Vegas seemed to have him really hurt whilst Frenchman Nadjib Mohammedi had Cleverly looking lost and confused at times.

The Welshman is intelligent outside of the ring having studied Pure Maths at university though inside of the ring he can, at times, fight the wrong fight. He often seems to want to prove his manliness and has given rounds away by wanting to fight instead of box and although he's gotten away with it up to now it could eventually be his downfall. The rise of the 24 year old has seen him winning British, European and Commonwealth titles so far in his career and now, with the world title handed to him, he will be wanting to win a genuine world title fight.

Scouser Tony Bellew has taken the fight on just a few days notice though like Cleverly he appears to be confident of winning. Bellew is 28 years old though he actually has significantly less professional experience than Cleverly with just 15 fights, and 10 of them ending early. Bellew however was a talented amateur winning a number of ABA titles in the heavyweight divisions before turning professional in 2007. Bellew, although a talented fighter, does seem to fall into a similar problem to Cleverly and instead of using his boxing he seems to just want to take people out with a single big punch, this has lead to Bellew being dropped a number of times as a professional and serious questions have been asked about his chin.

The Scouser has won the Commonwealth title though has really struggled at that level having been dropped by both Ovill MCkenzie and Bob Ajisafe in his most recent fights. The step up from Commonwealth level to world level is a huge leap and maybe one that Bellew is making too quickly and with out enough preparation time. Bellew however does claim he was near the weight limit of 175lbs and he was training for a rematch with McKenzie (that was to take place in a couple of months) so will have been a few weeks into his preparation work anyway.

The press conference between the two men was an explosive one with Bellew at one point being lead away from the fighters after calling Cleverly a “****ing rat” as the two men neared blows. In the ring though there will be no security to split the two men up and both men seem to have had a bit of needle at the conference. Cleverly correctly stating that if Bellew loses he'll make the excuse of taking the fight on 4 days notice, whilst Bellew denied it we all know it'll be true. For Bellew it's a big chance to win a world title and a no loss situation. If he loses the fight he can fall back on the 4-days notice excuse, if he wins then he's won the lottery, the pressure is on Cleverly who is expected to win.

The fight will be entertaining, both men are there to fight, Bellew is generally fun to watch, he's aggressive, he comes to take the other blokes head off and as a result can be put down. Cleverly also seems to enjoy going into the trenches and turning contests into wars of attrition and try to wear opponents down. Bellew has the better single punch power though Cleverly is the more skilled and more rounded fighter and this should be fun whilst it lasts. For me though Bellew is too open and will be countered and dropped a number of times before being stopped.