The people who give Cleverly no chance have probably never heard of him before. They have probably looked at his record, and haven't heard of anyone he's fought either. That's the ignorance you are dealing with from these so called boxing "fans" who follow boxing so intently.
Hopkins struggles against boxers who can move. We saw this with Calzaghe and Dawson. Cleverly moves well too which is why he may cause Hopkins some problems. The thing with Hopkins is, he makes people fight his fight. He makes them abandon their game plan and do things they wouldn't normally do in the ring. He doesn't throw many punches, but he makes sure he throws the right punch at the right time. He defence is excellent too, so this combination of things makes his opponents try and force the fight, which plays into Hopkins hands.
Cleverly is a smart fighter, with good work rate and stamina. He moves well and throws a lot of punches. However, Cleverly likes to be involved in a fight, which will suit Hopkins. The more Cleverly tries to take the fight to Hopkins, the more frustrated he could become which will lead to mistakes.
People who have never heard of Cleverly or just think he's a bum from overseas who has never been over to the only country that matters in boxing, will not give him a chance, but I think he has a good chance against Hopkins.
It won't be easy, and it will be an ugly fight, but if Cleverly stays smart and keeps moving he stands a good chance.
Cleverly has that same type of high volume, slap style that Calzaghe had. It's not a good style for B-Hop to face.
An old man like Hopkins needs to slow sh*t down and fight at his own pace. He can't fight at that same high pace that a dude like Cleverly can.
At the same time though, Cleverly has literally fought a bunch of bums (w/ the exception of Bellew, who I don't consider that good), and he is NO Joe Calzaghe.
It's a good fight and one I'd love to see. If Cleverly can fight at his normal pace and keep B-Hop from toying with him, he'll win a decision. If Hopkins can dictate how the fight goes and get into Cleverly's head, he'll school him.
I give Hopkins the benefit of the doubt at this point, and I don't believe Cleverly willl know how to deal with his cagey/old school tactics. The style matchup is interesting for sure though, and a toss up fight IMO.
Cloud is a real beast lol you have no idea how good he really is but I will never bet against Hopkins . I told everyone what I thought would happen in this fight and I was right but I was not going to bet against him. A 48 year old boxer has the boxing world scared. By the way Hopkins would give Cleverly a real boxing lesion.
styles make fights and Cleverly is too big and to active for Hopkins. The fight with Bellew showed that he is a tough guy ta boot. I'd say he edges Hopkins by a narrow Margin.
I admittedly don't know much about Cleverly and I see some very good answers here with good points. Personally, I will probably never doubt Hopkins again. It's futile. He continually keeps proving me wrong.
Bernard Slopkins is almost my age ,there's no way that old mothafucker can beat Nathan Cleverly!
Hopkins would straight assrape that white boy! "In a couple fight's time" means your little bitchboy has to wait until Hopkins needs a walker to get in the ring.
in a couple of fights time my money would be on Cleverly
