(Photo credit: Main Events) By Scott Gilfoid: Frank Warren, the promoter for former WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (26-1, 12 KO’s), hasn’t decided if they’ll look for a rematch with Russian KO artist Sergey Kovalev (22-0-1, 20 KO’s) after Cleverly was blown apart in 4 rounds last Saturday night in front of his own loyal Welsh fans at the Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom.
There wasn’t a rematch clause in the contract, so Kovalev can move on if he chooses, but you’ve to figure that Cleverly can a rematch if Warren makes the decision to get Kovalev back to the UK.
It would be a team thing where Cleverly and Warren would both agree that the Kovalev rematch was the right thing to do.
Warren said to the Daily Mail “We’ll see what happens with regards to any rematch. It’s early days. We’ll let him [Cleverly] have a break. It’s all a bit raw at the moment so we’ll have a chat in a few weeks and see where we go. There isn’t a rematch clause but I’m sure we could talk. At this stage, I’m not even thinking about a rematch.”
I think it would be best that Cleverly not face Kovalev ever again, but that’s me. I would be looking at the reality that Cleverly would be facing if he stepped inside the ring with “The Crusher,”, and just can’t see in my mind any scenario where the light hitting Cleverly would come out on top in a rematch with a powerful puncher like Kovalev.
The power difference between them is just too vast, and Cleverly would have to improve dramatically in the power department to have a chance of beating the Russian. Since that rarely happens in boxing, I don’t think it’s a good idea that Cleverly get anywhere near Kovalev again.
It wasn’t just the power that gave Cleverly problems in the Kovalev fight. Cleverly also didn’t seem to understand the Eastern European style of fighting that Kovalev had, as he looked totally confused in how to fight him. That makes me wonder whether Cleverly had the right kind of sparring for the fight that he needed to have.
Did he have Eastern European sparring partners or did he simply spar the local Brits with some of them trying half-heartedly to mimic Kovalev’s fighting style? If Cleverly didn’t even spar with Eastern European fighters, then that obviously is part of the problem. But even if Cleverly had sparred with the best Eastern European fighters, Kovalev’s huge power would have still be too much for him.
Like I said, I’m against Cleverly facing Kovalev again. I think Cleverly would be better off going back to the drawing board and looking to face the likes of Danny McIntosh and Billy Boyle to get his confidence up. Once he’s built himself back up, Warren needs to angle Cleverly towards WBA light heavyweight champion Beibut Shumenov.
Shumenov hasn’t fought in 14 months to defend his WBA title, and who knows how rusty the guy will be when he does get around to defending his strap again at some point. He could be an easy mark for Cleverly.
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