BoxRec

According to Twitter world WBA "normal" champ (ludicrous title but hey) Nathan Cleverly is in talks to fight Badou Jack.

Despite the fact I refuse to acknowledge Cleverly, or any WBA normal holders, as world champs, he's not a bad fighter. Not massively talent or good variety, but you know what you'll get, he'll put it on you in volume.

Jack, providing hes strong at the weight is the better all rounder and I fancy him to win a 3-4 round decision

Thoughts

Gotta go with Cleverly, now that Jack is going to fight bigger guys his slow starts and not really standing out in any department will likely prove to be detrimental. Clev has great conditioning and work rate can take a shot and has the tools to beat Jack for sure. Probably going to be a close fight but give that slight edge to Cleverly.

SFW wrote:Gotta go with Cleverly, now that Jack is going to fight bigger guys his slow starts and not really standing out in any department will likely prove to be detrimental. Clev has great conditioning and work rate can take a shot and has the tools to beat Jack for sure. Probably going to be a close fight but give that slight edge to Cleverly.

But Cleverley is much easier to hit

I think Cleverly is fairly 1 dimensional, so if his volume game doesn't work I don't see him winning.

Jack, by virtue of doing everything well (albeit nothing amazing) therefore holds advantages in more areas. Namely doing the basics better, fundamentals.

Badou jacks fight to win

As long as Jack handles the weight, which I've no reason to believe he won't, he beats Cleverly.
Jack, as others have observed is a solid all rounder, but not a stand out in any particular attribute or skillset, which led me to think he wasn't at the very highest level.
I picked Groves and subsequently Degale to beat him and was proven wrong, Jack has IMO proven himself to be a top level operator
Cleverly is a good fighter with a good engine but he comes up short at the highest level.

I won't be tipping a third brit to beat Jack

Jack Fonfaras Cleverly. Cleverly is a solid fighter, so I'm thinking it might be close. Too bad Kovalev destroyed Cleverly's prime. Cleverly's wins have really aged well.