By Nick Hagan: Nathan Cleverly 26-0 has the opportunity tonight to showcase his superb boxing skills, against a world class opponent in Sergey Kovalev 21-0-1
Many people including myself have been very impressed with Cleverly’s career to date. A career, in which he has been well guided, trained and managed impressively.
Cleverly became the WBO Light Heavyweight champion in 2010 at the tender age of 23. Now three years on, he Is calling out the big names in the division, i.e. Hopkins, Dawson and Cloud who have all appeared reluctant to sign up to a fight, against a boxer who is just Improving In every defense he makes of his title.
It may actually be a good thing that Cleverly hasn’t been able to get a ‘recognized boxing name’, to sign up to a fight, as so many young boxers have struggled when making the ‘elite leap’, too early in their careers. A prime example of this is Cleverly’s fellow Brit ‘Amir Khan’, who is the same age as Cleverly, but was thrown in at the ‘Top Level’, way too quickly.
What really impresses me about Cleverly Is the way he conducts himself around the ring. He has a boxing style very similar to Calazaghe, in that he has fast accurate fists and can throw cumulative combinations, that eventually wear’s his opponents down. By his own omission his defense needs Improving, but he does have the ability to really ‘Take a shot’.
Cleverly also has further credibility, to make him a real star. He has a very self assured, trustful attitude about his own ability. He has a great British following, which is growing with every fight he wins. Cleverly Is Intelligent outside the ring (having a Maths degree). This Intelligence also helps him inside the ring, when having to make quick rational decisions.
There are many opportunities for Cleverly In the future. He could decide to move down to Super Middleweight and fight Froch, for a great domestic fight. An Andre Ward fight would probably make for a better fight, due to fighting styles. Before moving down, he will obviously need to unify his own division, with the toughest test being Adonis Stevenson.
I firmly believe that given the opportunity Cleverly will eventually beat all of the names that I have mentioned above and cement himself as one of the best P4P, within the next couple of years.
Cleverly is not currently a house hold name In the States, but I’m sure that many British boxing fans are glad that he will get the chance to show just how good he is on HBO tonight.
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