Shumenov: We never turned down Clev, offered him Vegas

[whiskey]

A press release announced that Cleverly will be defending his WBO title February 25 against Tommy Karpency in Wales. It also claimed: An offer went to WBA title-holder Beibut Shumenov to face Cleverly, but he said he would not be ready in time - although it could happen later this year.

Back in November, Chargin reached out to *****, after reading stories that Cleverly was interested in a unification fight against Beibut. Chargin spoke twice to ******'s matchmaker, Dean Powell, but Don didn't hear back until he received an email yesterday.

"I thought that it was strange to get an email just yesterday asking what it would take to get Beibut to come to the UK, especially where we had been talking by phone, and they never responded to our offer weeks ago for Cleverly to fight Beibut in Las Vegas," Chargin said. "The next day they announce a fight between Cleverly and Karpency? The truth of the matter is Beibut never turned down any fight against Cleverly because they didn't make an offer to us. We offered them a fight against Shumenov in Las Vegas and they never even responded to that offer, which, to me, means they turned it down. To say Beibut wouldn't be ready in time to fight Cleverly in two months is quite amusing. Beibut's been ready to unify since he first won the WBA title. I am terribly disappointed that they would make false statements like that."

Shumenov (12-1, 8 KOs), a 2004 Kazakhstan Olympian, set a light heavyweight record for capturing a world title in the fewest career fights, 10, when (Jan. 29, 2010) he won a 12-round decision against Gabriel Campillo in Las Vegas. In three successful world title defenses, Shumenov won a unanimous 12-round decision versus No. 1 mandatory challenger and previously undefeated Viacheslav Uzelkov (UDEC12), followed by a six-round knockout of three-time world champion William Joppy (KO6), and then his victory last July by ninth-round TKO versus three-time world title challenger Danny Santiago.

[leforge]

A press release announced that Cleverly will be defending his WBO title February 25 against Tommy Karpency in Wales. It also claimed: An offer went to WBA title-holder Beibut Shumenov to face Cleverly, but he said he would not be ready in time - although it could happen later this year.

Back in November, Chargin reached out to *****, after reading stories that Cleverly was interested in a unification fight against Beibut. Chargin spoke twice to ******'s matchmaker, Dean Powell, but Don didn't hear back until he received an email yesterday.

"I thought that it was strange to get an email just yesterday asking what it would take to get Beibut to come to the UK, especially where we had been talking by phone, and they never responded to our offer weeks ago for Cleverly to fight Beibut in Las Vegas," Chargin said. "The next day they announce a fight between Cleverly and Karpency? The truth of the matter is Beibut never turned down any fight against Cleverly because they didn't make an offer to us. We offered them a fight against Shumenov in Las Vegas and they never even responded to that offer, which, to me, means they turned it down. To say Beibut wouldn't be ready in time to fight Cleverly in two months is quite amusing. Beibut's been ready to unify since he first won the WBA title. I am terribly disappointed that they would make false statements like that."

Shumenov (12-1, 8 KOs), a 2004 Kazakhstan Olympian, set a light heavyweight record for capturing a world title in the fewest career fights, 10, when (Jan. 29, 2010) he won a 12-round decision against Gabriel Campillo in Las Vegas. In three successful world title defenses, Shumenov won a unanimous 12-round decision versus No. 1 mandatory challenger and previously undefeated Viacheslav Uzelkov (UDEC12), followed by a six-round knockout of three-time world champion William Joppy (KO6), and then his victory last July by ninth-round TKO versus three-time world title challenger Danny Santiago.

Why did they lie about the offer?

[stujones]

Lets hope that Clev is not another fighter with a fear of flying -

My tongue is firmly in cheek.

[youngrell]

If Cleverly wants the big fights like he says he does, and like I think he does, he should be questioning his promoter this very afternoon about this!

Cleverly has come in for some flack over the last year or so, but it's mainly down to his promoter and the fighters being lined up for him. It's easy to say he shouldn't consider himself a world champion if he isn't defending like one, but who in the world would openly put their hands up and say "I'm a paper champion"? I think we need to cut Clev some slack and put the blame firmly on his handlers.

[twenty six]

It's all about the £$£$£$.

[freddydoesdallas]

If Cleverly wants the big fights like he says he does, and like I think he does, he should be questioning his promoter this very afternoon about this!

Cleverly has come in for some flack over the last year or so, but it's mainly down to his promoter and the fighters being lined up for him. It's easy to say he shouldn't consider himself a world champion if he isn't defending like one, but who in the world would openly put their hands up and say "I'm a paper champion"? I think we need to cut Clev some slack and put the blame firmly on his handlers.

To give him some credit, he has openly said that this isn't the type of opponent he wanted. On the otherhand, he's been talking non-stop about unifying so could have put his foot down over this