Nathan Cleverly vs. Daniel Ammann: Preview and Prediction for Upcoming Bout
This Saturday night in London, former WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly returns to action, making his cruiserweight debut against Australian Daniel Ammann. This fight is being contested for the commonwealth title at 200 pounds.
Cleverly is just three months removed from dropping his 175-pound belt to Sergey Kovalev, but he's been among Great Britain's top young fighters in the past couple of years. A return to the win column and a domestic title would be a good first step for the Welshman's comeback.
Tale of the Tape
1 of 7
| Per BoxRec | Nathan Cleverly | Daniel Ammann |
| Record: | 26-1, 12 KOs | 29-5-1, 6 KOs |
| Height: | 6'1.5" | 5'11" |
| Reach: | 74" | 71.5" |
| Weight: | About 200 pounds | About 200 pounds |
| Age: | 26 | 30 |
| Stance: | Orthodox | Southpaw |
| Hometown: | Cefn Fforest, Wales | Stockton, Australia |
| Rounds | 175 | 237 |
This will be Cleverly's debut at cruiserweight, but he has the height and length to fill out well at 200 pounds. His advantage in reach here against Ammann should help ease his transition to cruiser.
At 26, Cleverly is an experienced professional. But he's fought no southpaws recently, or at the world-class level.
Main Storyline
2 of 7
Just three months ago, Cleverly took a serious shellacking at the hands of Kovalev, dropping his WBO light heavyweight title to the Russian via Round 4 TKO. I'm frankly surprised to see Cleverly back in the saddle again so quickly.
But if Cleverly is truly recovered, a fast return to action is probably the best thing for him. Cleverly entered his defense against Kovalev a highly regarded young champion. A good percentage of the American boxing media had picked him to win against Kovalev.
Cleverly has the tools to put together a world title run at 200 pounds, if he can stand up against bigger fighters.
Ammann is a likely enough contender for the commonwealth title. But his true role in this fight is as a trial horse to see whether or not Cleverly is going to be able to manage the extra weight at cruiser.
Strengths
3 of 7Nathan Cleverly
Cleverly is an energetic, high-volume puncher. He is quick enough to beat an opponent to the punch and scores well with counters.
Cleverly throws punches from a variety of angles with both hands. He defensive abilities and busy hands help him get the better end of exchanges.
Daniel Ammann
Ammann is a thick, durable cruiserweight. He'll be crashing into Cleverly with significantly more weight than the former titlist is accustomed to feeling.
The jump from light heavyweight to cruiser is significant. Ammann is experienced and comfortable in the higher division.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Weaknesses
4 of 7
Nathan Cleverly
Cleverly was completely steamrolled by Kovalev last August. He took a pounding, and this is a quick return date.
Three months after the worst beating of his career, Cleverly is fighting the biggest opponent of his career. And he was never a big puncher at 175.
Daniel Ammann
Ammann is a mauler. He fights flat footed and squares up his entire stance when he throws his overhand left.
Ammann uses little head movement and has an easy-to-penetrate guard. As a crude, come-forward fighter, his lack of serious, fight-ending power is a major liability.
Nathan Cleverly Will Win If...
5 of 7Cleverly should be able to win this fight so long as he's fully recovered from his loss to Kovalev in August and so long as he's able to physically stand up to a 200-pound fighter.
Cleverly should use his length and boxing skills to keep Ammann on the outside in the early rounds. If Ammann tries to crash forward aggressively, Cleverly should fade back and circle left behind his jab, before countering the southpaw with an overhand right.
Cleverly should limit Ammann's forward momentum as much as possible. He should pump the jab and let go with multipunch combinations.
But if he finds himself unable to sting Ammann hard enough to fully discourage him, then he's going to need to be prepared to keep moving and countering.
Daniel Ammann Will Win If...
6 of 7Ammann should look to make the fight as rough as possible, as quickly as possible. Cleverly is coming up in weight, and he's coming back from a brutal TKO.
Ammann wants to prevent him from getting his confidence back.
Ammann has never shown much knockout power, so he's going to need to go for high volume against Cleverly. That's going to be tough, because Cleverly is a high-volume puncher himself, and he does well at countering an opponent in an exchange.
Amman's best chance is to make sure he gets off with his own offense before Cleverly can establish a comfortable rhythm. He should look to jab forward on Cleverly, and he should be letting his overhand left go as a matter of course.
When he gets inside Cleverly's range he should make the fight ugly. He should flail and grab and bump Cleverly around.
Prediction
7 of 7
Only a matter of months ago, Cleverly was spoken about as a potential opponent for Bernard Hopkins. Now he's toiling in that ultimate avenue of obscurity, the cruiserweight division.
Cruiserweight is a weight class populated by decent-sized men with good boxing skills and below-average pop in their fists. Cleverly should fit in relatively well there.
And he should comfortably outbox Ammann. It will be interesting to see if Ammann can muscle him around, since Cleverly never looked especially stout at light heavyweight.
But I think Cleverly will be able to maintain safe working distance all fight long with brisk combination punching and solid footwork. I think he'll win most of the rounds against Ammann and record a relatively easy decision in his debut at 200 pounds.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
