The Premier Boxing Champions airs on SpikeTV this Friday night with a card headlined by light heavyweights Andrjez Fonfara (27-3) and Nathan Cleverly (29-2). The fight is for Fonfara’s the WBC International title and is a must win for both men.
Fonfara captured the title last May with a break through win against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, stopping the Mexican star in the ninth round. The win gave Fonfara more recognition than he had had at any other time throughout his hard working career, though he also took WBC World Champion Adonis Stevenson the distance back in May of 2014.
With two losses occurring early in his career, the loss to Stevenson is the only loss he has had in the last seven years. A loss now would be a big setback, a he has won two fights since the Stevenson loss and has been very vocal campaigning for a re-match.
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As for Cleverly, he has been around the block as well. Form December of 2010 until August of 2013, Cleverly held the WBO World Light Heavyweight title through five title defenses before losing the belt to Sergey Kovalev. He has a huge following in his native England, but this is his third fight in the United States. Several news outlets have reported that there are die-hard fans of Cleverly who plan to travel and see the fight,
Meanwhile, Fonfara is of Polish descent and he counts on the support of a large and vocal Polish community in the Chicago-area, where he is a resident. Fonfara is coming in as the odds on favorite in this fight. Cleverly however claims to be refocused after taking a loss last year to rival Tony Bellew, and he is said to be in much better shape at Light Heavyweight after fighting Bellew at Cruiserweight.
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The co-main event continues the international theme of the event as WBA World Super Flyweight Champion Kohei Kono (30-8-1) of Japan, who defends his belt against fellow countryman Koki Kameda (33-1). Kameda is the big story here, as he is from a family of three brothers who are all very high level boxers.
Kameda is the most highly decorated of the bunch, with world titles in three weight classes (light flyweight, flyweight and bantamweight) and this would be a fourth. As for Kono, this is the first time he has ever fought outside Japan. he caputred the vacant WBA belt in March of 2014 and then fought a draw in his first title defense last New Year’s eve. He has not fought since, and the books have placed him as a wide underdog for this fight.
The live fight card totals eight fights and those may be at the sport books later this week. The two main events may see an over/under line be posted as well.
Check out our latest video blog where we review the odds for Premier Boxing Champions on SpikeTV. Check your local listings for the start time in your area, and obviously if your in Chicago, live boxing is the way to go.
