By Pawel Pronishev
Super middleweight contender James DeGale had an interesting take on Saturday's light heavyweight bout between WBO champion Nathan Cleverly (22-0, 11KOs) and challenger Tony Bellew (16-0, 10KOs), taking place at Liverpool’s Echo Arena. DeGale, who sparred with both fighters, is very familiar with them. He says Bellew is a much stronger puncher. DeGale, who appears in the co-feature, would bet his money on Bellew to win by knockout.
“I sparred with Bellew about a year ago. [And it was] ferocious sparring man. He’s a good fighter. I sparred with Cleverly before my last fight. It was a different kind of spar. I don’t want to say too much. Spars are different. I don’t want to call it, but Bellew hits very, very hard. [A lot of] people underestimate [Bellew's] boxing ability. On the other hand, Cleverly's workrate is unbelievable. If I was going to bet on it, put my house on it, I’d say Bells is going to knock him out,” DeGale told boxing scribe Steve Bunce on his new BoxNation show.
