Cleverly out of the picture for Dawson or Hopkins fight
October 25th, 2011
By Scott Gilfoid: WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (23-0, 11 KO’s) is now out of the picture for a fight against either WBC light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins or Chad Dawson due to the controversy that surrounds the Dawson-Hopkins fight.
Hopkins is already talking about wanting a rematch with Dawson, and that is a much higher priority for the 46-year-old Hopkins than facing a little known fighter like Cleverly. Other than hardcore boxing fans, no one really knows who Cleverly is in the U.S and there’s no real rush to fight him at this time.
The best thing Cleverly can do is go straight into a rematch with Tony Bellew, who Cleverly defeated by a controversial 12 round decision on October 15th, and try to beat him this time without controversy. I had the Bellew-Cleverly fight a draw but if I was to lean in either of the fighter’s directions I would go with Bellew. He landed the much harder and cleaner shots during the fight. Cleverly threw more and landed more, but without the power that Bellew had.
Dawson and Hopkins have so many better options available to them besides facing an obscure fighter like Cleverly. We’re talking Lucian Bute, Andre Ward, Andre Dirrell, Kelly Pavlik, Anthony Dirrell, Mikkel Kessler, Robert Stieglitz, Arthur Abraham, Jermain Taylor, Jean Pascal,, Beibut Shumenov, Tavoris Cloud, Zsolt Erdei..Etc. It’s practically endless. I rank Cleverly well below of those guys in terms of talent and popularity. Those are the guys that are likely going to be the upcoming fights for Dawson and Hopkins besides facing each other. Cleverly needs to carve his own niche and make a name for himself by finally stepping it. Right now, he’s still facing European and domestic level opposition. He needs to step it up a couple of levels so at least boxing fans can see if he’s for real or not. Bases on his life and death struggle with Bellew, I don’t think Cleverly is for real.
Tags: 14 Responses to “Cleverly out of the picture for Dawson or Hopkins fight”
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Oh look, another of my posts has been deleted.
yeah ok great comeback, must have taken a while to think of such an accomplished and well thought reply! Genius!
but cleverly looks so rugged so tough like the princes the brits worship. what a hoot.
why dont he chase cloud! i think he is the weakest link
Funny how Scotts changes his views….when Dirrell lands more feather shots, he is slick.
Maybe Bellow is much better than people think, until both fighters step up we aint gonna know for sure. I’d like to see Clev v Cloud.
Dawson is a real jerk. He reveres gangters, says gangsters fight back, not like Hopkins. Frisco gonna get an army boot put up….
another brit weezles out of another tough fight. typical brit move.
Npp ridicoulous
I think a lot of hot air is coming out there, Cleverly aint behind all of those fighters, no way!!! I do agree he needs to step up the opposition, however, even though I thought he won the Tony Bellew fight, I would like a rematch to confirm then after that a unification with Beibut Shumenov or Tavoris Cloud in Cardiff City Stadium in the summer
I don’t think cleverly will ever get beaten he is to powerful and skillfull for all of these fighters. The best welsh fighters never lose.
A close fight, deserves a rematch.
clev threw n landed more..dats a win!wot more do u want?he simply cant bang as hard as bellew so wil never land de bigger punch in d fight..so does dat mean in ur books dat de harder puncher always wins n skill n success rate dont matter?
How does cleverly get behind pavlik n taylor??….give em a shot…if he doesnt do well, oh well ,but if he does, u never know