By Edward Chaykovsky

There are some differing opinions on the outcome of today's title showdown, when Juergen Braehmer (48-2, 35 KOs) defends his WBA 'regular' light heavyweight title against Nathan Cleverly (29-3, 15 KOs) on October 1 at the Jahnsportforum in Neubrandenburg, Germany, live on Sky Sports.

The pair were originally slated to meet in 2011 at the O2 in London before an eye injury forced Braehmer to withdraw.  

Braehmer, who returns following a one-sided points victory over domestic foe Eduard Gutknecht, will now be aiming for a seventh successive defence of his WBA title. In his last outing, Cleverly - a former WBO world champion at 175-pounds - was involved in a 2015 ‘Fight of the Year’ contender versus Andrzej Fonfara a year ago.

Sky Sports analysts Carl Froch and Johnny Nelson - both former world champions - are split on the outcome.

Froch predicts a close decision with a controversial points verdict in favor of the champion.

"As far as his boxing goes, I think Braehmer can punch a bit, box a bit and he does most things well and is no mug. But he is a bit one-paced and tends to leap in, mostly with the jab and sometimes with the head, which Cleverly needs to be vigilant of," Froch told Sky Sports.

"But the German does lose his shape as he tires and I think that will be a big advantage for Cleverly, who is a very busy fighter. He needs to work hard and set the tempo to win the rounds and he will need to win them clearly. I am 100 percent behind him and I do think Cleverly deserves to win but is likely to end up losing a majority decision. Read into that whatever you will."

On the other hand, Nelson is on board with Froch - in the sense that he believes the fight will be difficult for both - but he believes Cleverly will do enough to impress the judges for a decision win, even in the champion's backyard.

"Us fighters all have someone that sets the blue touch paper alight and I do think Braehmer is the one that does it to Cleverly. He seems to have the bit between his teeth. He is eight years younger so he has to go in their with pace, all sorts of angles, for at least two minutes of every round because the one thing you can't dodge is time and that will catch up on Braehmer," Nelson said.

"Nathan can win but he has to produce something that makes it hard for him to feel robbed when the scores are read out. He has the skill and ability to beat Braehmer that's for sure. I can see Cleverly coming back in a tough, tough fight but nicking it on points - even out in Germany."