Warren says Cleverly’s willing to fight Adonis Stevenson in a 175 unification bout

By Boxing News - 06/15/2013 - Comments

stevenson454By Scott Gilfoid: British promoter Frank Warren is saying that his fighter WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (26-0, 12 KO’s) is willing to face the huge puncher WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson (21-1, 18 KO’s) in a unification bout no matter where it takes place.

Warren said in his column at Frankwarren.com “The 35-year-old Haitian is a seriously dangerous puncher. Nevertheless, Nathan Cleverly is willing to accommodate him in a unification spat on either side of the Atlantic, anytime Stevenson fancies it.”

Well, I think Stevenson might just fancy it, but I hope Cleverly does because somehow I can see him getting sick before this fight and then it falling through. I mean, I’d be happy just to see Cleverly face unbeaten challenger Sergey Kovalev.

That fight would be a good preliminary for this one, but Stevenson is definitely the top of the list of fighters I’d like to see Cleverly face.

Stevenson destroyed WBC light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson in one round last Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. After the fight, Stevenson said he wanted to fight Bernard Hopkins or Andre Ward.

Obviously, he didn’t mention Cleverly because he’s not well known in Canada or the United States. It would be a situation where Stevenson wouldn’t get a lot of respect for beating Cleverly if the fight were made.

If there’s nothing else available for Stevenson then I think Cleverly would do, if only because he’s got the WBO light heavyweight strap and that would help Stevenson’s career to add that belt to his list.

I’m not so sure the WBC would allow him to keep the WBO belt, but it would still be interesting for him to be seen briefly adding the WBO title to his collection before the WBC puts the pressure on him to give up the belt.

Cleverly would be in a world of hurt in a fight against Stevenson because the Canadian based champion is too fast and too powerful for him. All those big power shots that Robin Krasnigi nailing Cleverly with last April would turn into knockout punches if Stevenson were the ones landing those huge shots.

I see Cleverly turning down the Stevenson fight if he suddenly starts showing interest in the fight. I mean, Cleverly is a decent fighter, but I see him as a paper champion and Stevenson is the real thing. It would be over quickly for Cleverly if that fight were to happen.



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