Braehmer v Cleverly: Betting preview for WBA light-heavyweight bout
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Five years on from when the pair were originally supposed to fight, we’re now just one day away from seeing Juergen Braehmer and Nathan Cleverly in the ring with each other. And although it’s the Brit who has to travel to Germany to face the WBA light-heavyweight title-holder, he could cause quite a shock.
At 37 years of age, this may be the best and will probably be the only chance Cleverly has at beating the ageing German.
On paper, it’s Braehmer who heads into this one with the upper hand boasting a 48-2 record with an incredible 35 KOs to his name. 29-year-old Cleverly’s form doesn’t come close to that, with a 29-3 record coupled with just the 15 KOs.
Braehmer hasn’t tasted defeated in eight years of boxing and has retained his current belt on six previous occasions.
However, Cleverly was defeated in his last bout, back in 2015, where Andrzej Fonfara won by unanimous decision.
The Welshman does have several high-profile world title fights under his belt though, and he’ll be confident he can put his experience into practice come Saturday night.
In his previous 50 fights, Braehmer has faced 285 rounds of boxing, averaging 5.7 rounds-per-bout, while Cleverly’s 32 fights have brought about 206 rounds, giving him a rounds-per-bout average of 6.4.
That means there could be some value in the 9/1 for this one being over between rounds 5-6.
Putting past bouts to one side, Clev certainly boasts physical attributes capable of doing damage to his opponent.
At 6ft 1½ in, he’s 2in taller than his opponent, and a reach of 74” beats Braehmer by 2½”. So just because the German has the better record, don’t think that this one will be a walk in the park for him.
Pundits are suggesting Cleverly can’t let the fight go the distance if he’s to stand any chance of winning, and we’re offering odds of 5/1 for the Brit to win by KO, TKO or DQ.
Perhaps the home advantage has something to do with it, but it’s Braehmer who heads into this one as the 8/15 favourite, but we think there’s certainly some value in the 13/8 for Cleverly to bring the WBA world light heavyweight belt back to the UK with him.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
