By Jake Donovan

Andrzej Fonfara is eager for another shot at light heavyweight glory. Nathan Cleverly believes he has enough left in the tank to make a run towards a second title reign.

On paper, it adds up to an intriguing headlining bout Friday evening at UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. The scheduled 12-round affair tops the latest installment of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on Spike TV. 

Fonfara (27-3, 16KOs) enjoys the rare setting of serving as the A-side of a major fight at home, after having hit the road for recent notable clashes with World light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson and former middleweight champ Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Last year's title challenge versus Stevenson actually saw Fonfara's stock rise in defeat, climbing off the canvas to drop the champion late only to come up short in their Showtime-televised title fight in Montreal, Canada. The 27-year old Chicagoland contender - by way of Poland - has since rebounded with two wins.

The latter of the two was his biggest to date, dominating Chavez Jr. over nine one-sided rounds in forcing the former champ to quit on his stool in front of a disappointed crowd in Carson, California. 

With the win came the hope that a second title fight would come his way. It's still very much in his future, but first comes a hometown showdown versus a determined ex-champ who refuses to believe his time is done. 

Cleverly (29-2, 11KOs) fights in the U.S. for just the third time in his career. The former light heavyweight champion from Wales has spent the majority of his 10 years in the pro ranks fighting in the United Kingdom. 

His dream of capturing a title was realized in Dec. '10, claiming a secondary version of the title with a win over Nadjib Mohammedi. His reign was upgraded to full title status, making five successful defenses until running into unbeaten knockout artist Sergey Kovalev in Aug. '13. 

Despite his being a natural light heavyweight, Cleverly decided to give cruiserweight a test drive. The realization that the weight wasn't a good fit came in a narrow points loss to Tony Bellew last November, three years after having edged the Brit in their thrilling Oct. '11 light heavyweight title fight.

The loss was met with a drop back down in weight, claiming a tune-up win over Tomas Man in May in leading to his upcoming challenge versus Fonfara.

Read on to see how the staff at BoxingScene.com believes the light heavyweight action will go down. 

BOXINGSCENE.COM STAFF PREDICTIONS: ANDRZEJ FONFARA vs. NATHAN CLEVERLY

Ryan Burton (Fonfara TKO11): The Polish fighter send to be getting better each fight and stops the former champion late. 

Jake Donovan (Fonfara Dec.): This is a much tougher fight (on paper) than most seem to believe to be the case. Cruiserweight was never a good fit for Cleverly, but to date Sergey Kovalev - THE best light heavyweight in the world - is the only one to truly manhandle him. I expect Fonfara to edge one out here, but will know every step of a way that he was in a fight. 

Stephen "Breadman" Edwards (Fonfara late TKO): The local favorite will stop the ex-champion late in the fight. 

Michael Gibbons (Fonfara SD): Close fight down the stretch. A lot of people have written cleverly off but I have a feeling he is going to put forth a valiant effort.

Cliff Rold (Fonfara KO): Fonfara has done nothing but improve in recent years and came close to winning the title at 175. Cleverly has struggled since a loss to Kovalev and those struggles will continue here.

Victor Salazar (Fonfara TKO): Fonfara at home away from home in front a loud Polish crowd gets the stoppage.

Reynaldo Sanchez (Cleverly mid-rd TKO): I don’t trust on Fonfara, he beat Chavez but don’t show me some skills, I think Cleverly has the power to knock out Fonfara. 

Alexey Sukachev (Fonfara TKO5): What I know for sure is that Fonfara is a strong hitter. And after Cleverly's loss to Kovalev I;m not so sure he can take it well. Fonfara will use his power to hurt and stope the Welshman in the middle rounds.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox