Cleverly/Hawk

[Terrrrry]

Mickey Rourke's face

[jameswilson]

Another cause for amusement is Hawk's shorts. It looks like he is ejaculating fire!

[Terrrrry]

Hawk looks like a SMW in there...

[greenyox3]

Vince Cleverly's sunglasses. Nathan Cleverly's floppy hair. Tom Jones' tan.

Glory night for Britain on the style front!

[Terrrrry]

Hats off to John Rawling for those Mickey Rourke comments just now

[Horse]

I don't think Cleverly's punches are as weak as Jones is saying.

[jameswilson]

If Cleverly's chin can stand up at the very highest level he will actually be difficult to beat to be fair, because his workrate, speed and fitness seem very good.

[Terrrrry]

Very entertaining 4th.

Clev seems unable to put a proper dent in Hawk.

[Hagler2002]

Cleverly is gash, he'll be chinned as soon as Warren decides he can't milk him no more and goes for the big payday.

[Hagler2002]

If Hawk took boxing seriously he'd probably be able to make welterweight.

[Wales]

If Cleverly's chin can stand up at the very highest level he will actually be difficult to beat to be fair, because his workrate, speed and fitness seem very good.

Chin 10/10
Power 5/10

Just think at top top level hes too easy to hit, and wont discourage opponents enough to stop them taking calculated risks.

[crusader]

Cleverly-Hopkins, Shumenov-Hopkins, and Cloud-Hopkins are being discussed for next year.

I think that Cleverly would have a good chance of beating Hopkins; his fast hands, high volume, and good stamina could enable him to edge a decision against someone who doesn't cope well with high volume and speed.

[Hagler2002]

I think that Cleverly would have a good chance of beating Hopkins; his fast hands, high volume, and good stamina could enable him to edge a decision.

He's nearly 48! The guy he beat tonight was probably a better test.

[crusader]

I think that Cleverly would have a good chance of beating Hopkins; his fast hands, high volume, and good stamina could enable him to edge a decision.

He's nearly 48! The guy he beat tonight was probably a better test.

I know, but as I mentioned in my edit, the bout is being discussed.

Hopkins' age notwithstanding, I think it would be a great opportunity for Cleverly, with a victory raising his stock significantly; Hopkins is a very big name and many people think that he is still a top fighter.

[Horse]

He's nearly 48! The guy he beat tonight was probably a better test.

Hopkins is still a class act. Anyone who beats him deserves credit.

[Wales]

Same hopkins who lost a SD to chad dawson earlier this year and handily beat pascal last year. In most cases age is not just a number, but hopkins bucks that trend. Really dont see what clev has done to make him overwhelming fav against nard

[crusader]

He's done nothing to make himself an overwheming favorite, but I think his strengths and style are anathema to Hopkins, and thus give him a realistic chance of winning.

You're also right that Hopkins is an exception to a trend, but he's looked increasingly slow, reluctant to throw, and troubled by his opponents' attacks; Pascal rocked him on numerous occasions and landed easily before gassing, while Dawson shut him down in a large majority of the rounds they fought. Pascal and Dawson are good fighters, but Hopkins also looked poor against Enrique Ornalas a few years back, and I think the process of decline has set in, or increased it's intensity.

Hopkins was a great fighter, and it's very probable that he's still good enough to beat Cleverly, but I think the inverse result is almost as probable.

[jBacca]

Impressed with Cleverly tonight. I know the kid's got raw potential and we've become increasingly frustrated with his brawling style, but tonight we got to see Cleverly using the jab and putting combinations together - albeit for only half the fight - which is a rare sight.

He's still not ready for Hopkins though imo. He still looks like he loves a throwdown and I can't see him being able to stick to a gameplan which he'll need against the Yank. He's got a good engine though and a nice left hook; there were definitely promising signs.

[LeedsLad]

He's still very raw.

It was a better performance than the Karpency debacle, he was probably more up for this one given that it was an opportunity in America, rather than some turd brought in solely because he'd never been stopped.

Clev needs to stop flurrying for flurrying's sake, when he punches properly and takes his time he appears to punch much harder and leaves himself less open to counters.

I'm not so sure we'll see many of these American showcase fights, remember the last time Allegedly gave a fighter a little bit of slack.... off Khan went.

The talk that Clev might be going to the Wildcard is positive.... Vince just ain't a boxing trainer and he's going to get his son badly knocked out at some stage if things continue.

[Ratchet Exits Nu]

Nathan is NOT World Class.

He is WBO World class, and that's not always the same as bieng World Class.

Pascal. Knocks him out and so would Dawson,Ward, Froch, Hopkins.

[whiskey]

Win or lose - im glad for Clev he's finally looking like fighting 'someone' at last.

I wish him the best.

[broomy7s]

I thought he was pretty decent last night. As poor as Hawk was he'd never been on his arse before. Cleverly has great handspeed for a light heavy, a great chin and decent shot selection. I just worry about his defence and footwork. I really think he needs to get a decent trainer if he is to become world class.

[Final round]

Good performance by Nathan, Hawk was made for him but he was a tough guy.

He really needs to work on his power shots though, hopefully something comes out of his wildcard visits. Offense is Roach's game.

[milpool]

Nath needs to keep busier and step up his competition if he's going to progress. 2012 has been a bit of a frustrating year for him. Two fights against very average opposition for a young and hungry world champion is not ideal.
Is he good enough to beat a Pascal, a Dawson or a Cloud...maybe, maybe not. I don't think we can tell yet which is why we need to see him step up his opposition so we can find out more about him. Using the likes of Hawk and Karpency as punch bags doesn't tell us a great deal, except that he's a class above those two.

[ShadrachSimmo]

Ovil beats the hawk...