WBO light heavyweight titleholder Nathan Cleverly weighed 174 pounds compared to 173 for hard-hitting rival Sergey Kovalev in advance of Saturday’s bout at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales.

A 26-year-old Welshman, Cleverly (26-0, 12 knockouts) was last in the ring for a unanimous decision over Robin Krasniqi.

Kovalev (21-0-1, 19 KOs) is on a five-knockout streak, the last two coming in the third round over former titleholder Gabriel Campillo and once-beaten Cornelius White in January and June, respectively, and is 9-0-1, with nine knockouts in his past 10 fights.

Photo courtesy of HBO.

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]