CLEVERLY WANTS BELLEW AND THEN BIG-NAME AMERICAN

[johnswan1]

http://ringtv.craveonline.com/rumors/ar ... e-american

Nathan Cleverly has his sights set on a title-unification clash in his homeland of Wales against record-breaking RING and WBC light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins

However, before that potential showdown comes to fruition, Cleverly, who stopped Poland’s Aleksy Kuziemski over the weekend to retain the WBO belt for the first time, says he has unfinished business to care of with mouthy British rival Tony Bellew.

The pair should have fought on Saturday at the London O2 Arena. But Bellew, a late replacement for Cleverly’s original opponent and former champion Juergen Braehmer, failed to make the weight.

Which was a pity. After an explosive, hastily-arranged press conference last week, when they turned the air blue and had to be physically pulled apart, it had promised to be a tasty scrap – certainly a good deal better than Cleverly’s ultimately forgettable fourth-round TKO over Kuziemski.

But the good news is Cleverly has not forgotten Bellew's insults and views a fight with the Liverpool prospect later this year as the perfect stepping stone to bigger and better things – either against Hopkins, 46, who became boxing's oldest major titleholder on Saturday, or another of the elite Americans in the division.

“The amount of people I’ve had on the phone asking me to beat this guy Bellew is unreal to be fair,” said the classy, undefeated 24-year-old Welshman (22-0, 11 knockouts). “That could be a possibility for my next title defense.

“He wants the fight, and he fancies his chances. But I believe I would beat him quite comfortably. So, it would be a nice fight for me before I go for the big names.

“Even though I have achieved my dream of becoming a world champion, there is still a long road ahead for me, where I can take part in the big-money fights against the big American names. That’s the target now.

“Bernard Hopkins in Wales is a big possibility. I spoke with allegedly and these sort of names are being mentioned. Tavoris Cloud is another good American, and Chad Dawson.

“There could be no better place for an event like that than the Millennium Stadium. It would be awesome. In terms of fighting a big-name American in that stadium, I think we’re only one or two fights away. It’s exciting times.”

[dbf]

It will be interesting to see, with more pressure from Sky then ever before if allegedly will actually deliver either Cloud, Hopkins or Dawson in near future. I have a feeling he will have to as it won't be like Hatton when after most WBU defences we heard all the big names in the division being mentioned but we ended up with the likes of Vilches, Penderson etc

[apophenic]

i think bomber beats him early.

clev leaves himself wide open.

[Deserter]

While I think Cleverly can beat Bomber, I find it remarkable that he supposedly views that as preparation in any way, shape or form for taking on the top boys in the division. It's a decent domestic/Euro-level scrap, nothing more, nothing less.

[NazNaci1]

Whilst I don't doubt Nathan is willing to take any fight, he is a gutsy lad, Warren calls the shots, not Nathan.

Don't expect too many tough outings, especially now that Degale has lost too. Warren won't endanger one of his few gooses.

[apophenic]

Don't expect too many tough outings, especially now that Degale has lost too. Warren won't endanger one of his few gooses.

ain't that the truth.

[righthook]

iv said it for a year or 2 now but i really believe bellew will k.o him in devastating fashion!

cleverly has more pro experience

cleverly has quicker hand speed

and probity a better engine

but bellew has far more punching power

he has a great amateur pedigree

and also has shown he has plenty of heart as he showed from getting up from that punch from mckenzie wich am sure every1 would agree would have k.od 90% of l heavys.

this is going to be an amazing fight when it happens and i for 1 cant wait theirs nothing better than 2 rivals who really dis like each other, and are both unbeaten.

this has the potential to be a great fight but i dont think it will go very long as both fighters dont like to take a backward step so i see this as a slug fest and who ever lands the best wins. imo bellew will k.o cleverly in around 2-3 rounds

[mickey1975]

I think a Bellew win would suit Fwank. He is more than happy at The Echo and has a few Liverpool boxers on his books. He has yet to put Clev on in Wales, if he thought he would make money, he would.

[sendo]

I do fancy Bellew's chances, drag Cleverly into a scrap and stop him.

[SteveDow]

No chance of Hopkins coming to Wales but if they did fight in the next year, Cleverly would get beaten very badly. It was quite alarming the amount of shots the Polish guy on Saturday caught him with and the fight was very competitive until the ridiculous stoppage. I doubt Cleverly will ever be near the level of Hopkins but if they were to fight now it would be an utter mismatch.

[Dan Dares]

Don't expect too many tough outings, especially now that Degale has lost too. Warren won't endanger one of his few gooses.

Absolutely.

Not saying he's a soft touch at all, but Bellew will be Cleverly's next opponent, I'd lay money on it. Makes total sense. A win-win for the promoter.

allegedly bringing Hopkins over here? not for the kind of money he'll be offering. Its far too risky-a-fight at this stage in Cleverly's career, and his promoter fkin knows it - he won't want him anywhere near Hopkins, or Cloud for that matter (although that's more likely - is he still a Don King fighter?)

It'll be Bellew, if he gets through that, (and i'm not sure how the mandatory thing works with the WBO) it'll probably be someone else from the WBO rankings. I don't see too many big name Americans on there, apart from Dawson.

1 Dmitry Sukhotsky (Int-Cont) RUS
2 Braimah Kamoho (WBO Africa) GHA
3 Soulan Pownceby (Asia-Pacific) USA
4 Eduard Gutknecht GER
5 Marcus Vinicius de Oliveira (Latino) BRA
6 Tomas Kovacs (WBO Europe) SOL
7 Zsolt Erdei HUN
8 Kariz Kariuki (Oriental) KEN
9 Chad Dawson NZ
10 Karo Murat GER
11 Aleksy Kuziemski POL
12 Isaac Chilemba MAL
13 Denis Simcic SLO
14 Tony Bellew GB
15 Viacheslav Uzelkov UKR

Bellew v Cleverly is a good fight - we've all watched them box a few times. Cleverly can take a dig, but can he take one of Bellews? This question, and more will be answered before Christmas methinks.

[clunkclik]

Bellew v Clev would be a great british scrap!!,

[Boxing Pirate]

Cleverly is the most over hyped boxer in british boxing at this moment in time and that includes James Degale.

[llamalew]

Sorry I just cannot see how anyone can say that bellew would beat cleverly. Cleverly whilst not being world class yet holds good wins over top euro level operators. Bellew has been on his arse 3 or 4 times in his last 2 fights against very mediocre domestic opponents. I believe bellew would have a punchers chance at best and cleverly is on a totally different level at the moment. Cleverly also has a brilliant chin but I do think he neglects his defence skills knowing a lesser puncher like his previous 2 opponents would be little trouble. Against bellew I think u would see a different more cautious but better boxer. Most people on here just lick bellews arse cos he posts here

[TheSilentOne]

Who has Cleverly beaten? Seriously he must be the only fighter to win British, Commonwealth, European and now World titles without actually having fought anyone! Jeez, he won the EBU belt against a guy that had been banged out in one round by Braehmer in his previous fight! His best wins are probably McIntosh and Murat, who, whilst pretty good domestically (McIntosh) are nowhere near world class. Murat was supposed to be very good but when Nathan took the fight to him, it became obvious that he was just another over protected German, well Iraqi but you get what I mean.

He is rapidly going backwards under his father and seriously needs to address his situation before he gets beaten by a nobody. Dean Powell gives all the advice in the corner because his Dad just seems lost; his defence is piss-poor and his and his teams delusional belief that he is ready for Cloud, Hopkins, Dawson, Pascal etc. is a piss take. Allegedly's face said it all, despite all this press regarding Hopkins. And to top it all off, now his old gym mate has been calling him out! In hindsight, if last Saturday it had been Cleverly v Maccarinelli, I know who my money would have been on and that would have been the one of them that only needed a single shot to end the fight....

[Dbear]

Zsolt erdei would be a good first defense, ex light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion also undefeated so would be a very good win to put on clev's record

[Flump]

Don't expect too many tough outings, especially now that Degale has lost too. Warren won't endanger one of his few gooses.

Absolutely.

Not saying he's a soft touch at all, but Bellew will be Cleverly's next opponent, I'd lay money on it. Makes total sense. A win-win for the promoter.

allegedly bringing Hopkins over here? not for the kind of money he'll be offering. Its far too risky-a-fight at this stage in Cleverly's career, and his promoter fkin knows it - he won't want him anywhere near Hopkins, or Cloud for that matter (although that's more likely - is he still a Don King fighter?)

It'll be Bellew, if he gets through that, (and i'm not sure how the mandatory thing works with the WBO) it'll probably be someone else from the WBO rankings. I don't see too many big name Americans on there, apart from Dawson.

1 Dmitry Sukhotsky (Int-Cont) RUS
2 Braimah Kamoho (WBO Africa) GHA
3 Soulan Pownceby (Asia-Pacific) USA
4 Eduard Gutknecht GER
5 Marcus Vinicius de Oliveira (Latino) BRA
6 Tomas Kovacs (WBO Europe) SOL
7 Zsolt Erdei HUN
8 Kariz Kariuki (Oriental) KEN
9 Chad Dawson NZ
10 Karo Murat GER
11 Aleksy Kuziemski POL
12 Isaac Chilemba MAL
13 Denis Simcic SLO
14 Tony Bellew GB
15 Viacheslav Uzelkov UKR

Bellew v Cleverly is a good fight - we've all watched them box a few times. Cleverly can take a dig, but can he take one of Bellews? This question, and more will be answered before Christmas methinks.

Good post. Looking at that list Cleverly can keep defending against soft touches for quite a while.

[Big bob]

Big named Americans are at least 12 months away and Frank won't risk a big cash cow like clev, bellow is a scrappy fighter but i truly believe clev is made for him. They both would go in hot headed wanting to ko each other but if bellow got his chance it would be short lived.

Just a quick point I think clev with a different trainer and the fight would be completely different

[jonny]

I think Cleverly knocks Bellew out mid rounds.

[Chambers2]

Looks like Bellews pre-fight mouthing off has done the trick

Good Work Bomber!

[Camcas]

Cleverly is the most over hyped boxer in british boxing at this moment in time and that includes James Degale.

He is a world champion you can't say hes over hyped especially not more than Degale

[damianhucker1]

1 . Bellew
2. Macarinelli
3. Erdei

In that order , will be in m view the easiest route with more reputable names to the casual fan , in my view there may be easier fights on that list , but if ive not heard of a lot of them then the casual fan certainly wont have so not too good on the ppv scale .

[grannyman]

Too many people on here talk about Bellew's power and forget that he goes down easily.

[Ezzard]

He is rapidly going backwards under his father and seriously needs to address his situation before he gets beaten by a nobody.

Whilst I think overall you'e being a bit overly critical I do accept the general sentiment. The quote above does really worry me too.

I think Cleverly has great potential. But the last 2 performances have shown worrying bad habits. As I said in another post he may just be trying to be more exciting but he needs to be careful. doesn't want to pick up any bad habits.

[freddydoesdallas]

Big named Americans are at least 12 months away and Frank won't risk a big cash cow like clev, bellow is a scrappy fighter but i truly believe clev is made for him. They both would go in hot headed wanting to ko each other but if bellow got his chance it would be short lived.

Just a quick point I think clev with a different trainer and the fight would be completely different

Is he really a cash cow for W_rren though? He's not headlined a bill yet and although he was due to headline against Braehmer, they were really selling the fight on the back of Groves v DeGale. All this talk of the millenium stadium is pretty optimistic to say the least unless there is a conference centre for a few thousand fans.

He's nowhere near the position to command ppv but will no doubt want more money per fight so maybe a big name and risky fight to see if he sinks or swims is just what the doctor ordered