Fonfara landed a staggering 474 of 1413 punches while Cleverly landed 462 of 1111. Cleverly won rounds by throwing punches from awkward angles and by countering effectively.
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Cleverly took a pounding, bleeding heavily from his nose and ear, but his stock suffered no damage with a performance that pushed Fonfara to the brink.
However, in round seven, Cleverly suffered a broken nose, making the area a frequent target of Fonfara, and the Pole moved clear with a number of sustained onslaughts against his opponent, who was doing well to remain competitive. The injury slowed the pace of Cleverly’s attack and allowed Fonfara to pull ahead on the scorecards.
Fonfara was given the verdict by 115-113 from one judge and by 116-112 from two.
Cleverly was smarting after being hit after the bell in the second round but he was on top at that stage.
Kohei Kono retained the WBA Super Flyweight title with a 12-round unanimous decsision over former three-time champion Koki Kameda in a historic battle of Japanese fighters. Kono bounced back and immediately put Kameda on the ground with a sharp straight left hand. Kameda landed another low blow later in the third, which cost him a point.
Victory is essential for the 28-year-old Welshman otherwise the career of a fighter who had the world at his feet just over two years ago could well be over. Kono finished the fight landing 362 punches to 317 by Kameda. He was taking a lot of punches and not breaking down. He wanted to fight with me. He believed he could win until the very end. This is my first opportunity to fight on the PBC platform and I’m very grateful. I respect him very much. I definitely feel stronger and faster than ever before this fight. But the straight punches of Fonfara (28-3) proved more pleasing to the judges.
“I was positive I won before they read the decision. He’s a warrior. He got broke noise but he stayed in there and tried to win”.
“It has been a great experience over here in the USA – it’s a pretty hostile crowd but they all congratulated me after the fight”.
“I’m happy to be fighting in Chicago again, it’s my hometown right now”.
“I promise a great show for boxing fans”.
Victory will see a few big paydays against Stevenson or Kovalev and a new chapter in his career, but defeat will see it left in tatters.
“My jab was superb tonight and my uppercut rarely missed”. I’m really looking forward to this fight. I will be a four-time world champion.
“My stamina wasn’t what it should be in the later rounds”.
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“I got caught in the second round because I made a mistake I shouldn’t have made”, Kameda said. “I want to be the next world champion, so I must win this fight to take the next step”.
