Warren hoping to match Cleverly with Hopkins

By Sean McDaniel: Promoter Frank Warren is reportedly hoping to match his fighter WBO light heavyweight interim champion Nathan Cleverly (30-0, 10 KO’s) against 46-year-old Bernard Hopkins (51-5-2, 32 KO’s) in the near future if both Hopkins and Cleverly win their next fights. Hopkins faces WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (26-1-1, 16 KO’s) this Saturday night, whereas Cleverly battles it out with World Boxing Organization (WBO) light heavyweight champion Jurgen Braehmer (36-2, 29 KO’s) on Saturday at the O2 Arena in London, England.

Speaking with Sky Sports News, Warren said “I got the Hopkins fight for Joe Calzaghe and I would love to bring him over to face Wakes’ new star, Nathan Cleverly.”

Both Cleverly and Hopkins have a good chance of winning their fights this weekend. However, Hopkins doesn’t have a free schedule to face Cleverly right now, because Hopkins would be expected to face Chad Dawson if he wins on Saturday in his undercard fight against Adrian Diaconu. Things would be much easier for Hopkins if Dawson loses, because then Hopkins might be interested in picking up another belt by fighting Cleverly in a unification bout. It’s not likely, though, because Cleverly has no name value in the United States and fans would likely tune out of a fight between Hopkins and Cleverly. Hopkins would likely ignore a fight with Cleverly and instead try and go after a bout with IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute or take on the winner of the Super Six tourney at some point. There are some good fights out there for Hopkins, and Cleverly would appear to be a lesser one compared to fights against top super middleweights.

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