By Sean McDaniel: After getting staggered by the weak punching Aleksy Kuziemski (21-3, 5 KO’s) en route to getting a win when the fight was halted abruptly in the 4th round by the referee last weekend, WBO light heavyweight champion champion Nathan Cleverly (22-0, 11 KO’s) is looking to go after the big names in the light heavyweight division and is eying hoped for fights against former WBC champion Jean Pascal, current WBC champ Bernard Hopkins or IBF title holder Tavoris Cloud next.

Cleverly, however, might do well to reign in his ambitions a tad and look to defend his title against the best possible contender rather than taking on Pascal, Hopkins and Cloud and getting knocked out. Cleverly showed in the Kuziemski that he’s not quite ready for the big time fighters yet.

Cleverly didn’t just look bad in the Kuziemski bout. He also looked poor in his fight before the Kuziemski bout, struggling to beat Nadjib Mohammedi last December. If Cleverly can’t beat guys like Mohammedi without a great struggle, what does that tell you about his chances against Hopkins, Pascal and Cloud. Cleverly needs to sit tight and defend his title against Zsolt Erdei next or one of the top contenders rather than wasting time going after guys that will only beat him. Cleverly is at least five or six years away in development before he’ll be in the league of Hopkins, Pascal and Cloud in my estimation. I don’t think he’ll be in their league then but they’ll at least be either too old or out of the sport by then and that would give Cleverly the handicap to win.