By William Mackay: Unbeaten Nathan Cleverly (19-0, 9 KO’s) says he wants a shot against former World Boxing Council super middleweight champion Carl Froch (26-1, 20 KO’s) in an article at Frankwarrentv. Cleverly, 23, says “I think most of the guys in the Super Six will be moving to light heavyweight once it is over and a fight between Froch and I could happen. It is a fight I would love.“

Cleverly has a fight coming up on September 18th against unbeaten light heavyweight contender Kara Murat (22-0, 13 KO’s) in a 12 round bout at the LG Arena, in Birmingham. West Midlands. For Cleverly and Murat, this will be a huge step up for both fighters, because neither of the have been in tough as of yet and it’s hard to tell how good they really are. Cleverly has looked good against the 2nd tier opposition he’s been matched against this far during his five-year pro career. Most of Cleverly’s opponents have been European fighters from the UK area.

Cleverly may not be good enough to beat a seasoned pro like Froch, and it would seem even less likely that he could beat talented Super Six tourney fighters like Andre Dirrell, Andre Ward, Arthur Abraham and Mikkel Kessler, even if they do move up to the light heavyweight division at some point in the future. Cleverly, ranked #3 IBF, #3 WBO and #5 WBC, still needs to prove that he can beat a good B level fighter before he starts wishing to take on the very best of the super middleweights. In looking at some of Cleverly’s fights, I’ve noticed that he gets hit far too much and is absolutely wide open on defense.

I thought Froch’s defense was bad, but Cleverly is by far worse in my view. The guy needs to learn how to protect himself more so he doesn’t keep getting hit the way he’s been tagged against the 2nd tier opposition he’s been in with. I can only imagine what would happen to Cleverly when/if he takes on a good light heavyweight like Chad Dawson, Tavoris Cloud, Glen Johsnon, Jean Pascal, Zsolt Erdei, or Jurgen Brahmer. I think all of those guys would wipe the deck with Cleverly without any problems whatsoever.

Honestly, I see Cleverly will having big problems with Murat, who’s ranked #2 WBC and #11 in the IBF. Murat is the same kind of fighter as Cleverly, someone who plods forward, throwing a lot of hard body shots and who gets hit way too much for his own good.