BoxRec

bbjc wrote:Wierd one last night. Not seen the fight yet...but cleverly appeared to be there practically by himself at one point. World title holder...on the biggest stage and there by himself. Just seemed wierd to me. Guys pretty much went through his career making horrible choices...from kovalev. sticking with vince for too long...going with what appears to be a fitness coach. Not getting a serious trainer in. Fighting badou jack in vegas for pretty basic money etc For a guy thats got a maths degree he sure as hell made some stupid decisions.

Ashame really cause reckon he could have had a very solid career without the kovalev fiasco. All the best to him tho...good guy cleverly. Just wierd when you ve got cleverly sitting with a maths degree making stupid decision after stupid decision then theres floyd mayweather unable to read etc...making all the smart decisions.

Cleverly didnt even have much of a run going into jack. No real build up for him or support. I d be surprised if many that bought the boxing even knew he was on last night until they tuned in.

With sky money apparent got close to 500k for last night

Admittedly was watching while half asleep last night but was surprised at how poor he was last night. Much bigger frame than Jack but unable to push him back at all from what I remember. Just didn't seem to have it anymore so probably the right time to call it a day. Saying that, very impressive from Badou Jack, really excellent fighter. Knows his strengths and weaknesses and knows how to get the job done, he's a threat to all the top fighters at 175.

Cleverley looked finished the night he lost the rematch to Bellew. To his credit he managed to fight on and picked up a version of the light heavyweight belt and I hope he got a decent payday before retiring.

Definitely the right decision. Jack will be an interesting addition at Light heavyweight though. Wonder if Stevenson, Ward or Kovalev will fight him.

Kilsby wrote:Well done on a great career. I personally felt he was done after the second bellew fight

Kovalev, ruined Cleverly mentally, he has never been close to anything he thought he was since.

craigjenkins05 wrote:

bbjc wrote:Wierd one last night. Not seen the fight yet...but cleverly appeared to be there practically by himself at one point. World title holder...on the biggest stage and there by himself. Just seemed wierd to me. Guys pretty much went through his career making horrible choices...from kovalev. sticking with vince for too long...going with what appears to be a fitness coach. Not getting a serious trainer in. Fighting badou jack in vegas for pretty basic money etc For a guy thats got a maths degree he sure as hell made some stupid decisions.

Ashame really cause reckon he could have had a very solid career without the kovalev fiasco. All the best to him tho...good guy cleverly. Just wierd when you ve got cleverly sitting with a maths degree making stupid decision after stupid decision then theres floyd mayweather unable to read etc...making all the smart decisions.

Cleverly didnt even have much of a run going into jack. No real build up for him or support. I d be surprised if many that bought the boxing even knew he was on last night until they tuned in.

With sky money apparent got close to 500k for last night

Ah pretty decent money tbf. Still cant get my head around cleverlys career. For a guy thats meant to be really intellegent hes made every bad choice possible. The kovalev fight shouldnt have even happened. He was building well to then. But it became apparent earlier he needed a serious trainer. Refused to switch trainers and when he did eventually switch it was a ridiculous choice. That towel should have been in last night. Was getting dangerous in there.

Cleverly was never a world beater...but he could have improved on the job with a quality trainer. Instead he kept fighting the exact same way time and time again. Lacked the nous of a world level boxer cause no one had really taught him anything but to stand in front and try to outlast his opponent.

Cant get my head round how world champions can be used as an opponent to bash up on. Should never have even went for the belt in the first place at that point in time. Never got a run of any kind after kovalev. It was back in against guys that would extend him straight away. Should have went back to european level with a quality trainer and start righting the wrongs that lead to the kovalev massacre. Just a career filled with mistake after mistake for me. And yet hes meant to be the smart guy. Cant quite work out how it ended like rhat for him. Would never have been a world beater...but there was a very good career to be had for him out there.

I'm glad he's called it a day. He's a bright guy, nothing more to accomplish. Move on and save your brain.

Twinkle Toes wrote:Not a huge surprise, he's looked out of love with the game for a number of years and there has been too much inactivity over the last couple of years.

I thought Murat exposed his limitations to a degree, he got hit far too much in that fight.

He does get hit far too much & that's why his decision to retire is the correct one in my opinion.

Hopefully made a nice wedge from PPV. Good luck in retirement. I also felt he lost something after Kovalev.

i stopped after a heavy loss at 28 and now on the cusp of 32 i really regret not carrying on - so i just hope he can live with the decision a few years on with no regrets
but like people have said if he has made smart investments and is financially ok then fair play to him, and he was always a favourite of mine when he was coming up against the likes of oakey and mackintosh etc

Deno1986 wrote:

geronimo wrote:After the retiremtent he will become a math teacher.

I was thinking of this after his fight. He got himself a good education as well as living the life of a pro boxer so that would have made his decision easier. He is fortunate enough to have something to fall back on. He had a very good career in the ring. Wish him the best of luck for the future.

Mine was just a joke, but i read that he achieved a bachelor of science in mathematics. It's kinda strange for a boxer get a Bsc... it's not that common. I wish for him the best, it looks like a nice guy.

Definitely the right decision, he's looked pretty shot in recent bouts and I agree with others that he's never been quite the same since the Kovalev defeat and also the Bellew rematch. He's had a very good career to look back on and is smart enough to keep earning.

Seems I underestimated Badou Jack yet again but that was a shell of Cleverley he beat the other night. Can only beat whats in front of you though and some good matches potentially for him at 175

Fair play to him he's made his money and has a good job outside of boxing, he's made the right decision

Looks like he's been winding down and/or was missing something after the Kovalev fight. Probably both. Wasn't training with a proper coach. Always liked Nathan though tbh. Mediocre world champion to be fair but was always decent value. My favourite memory of his career was probably him punching that twat Danny McIntosh around in a British title fight years ago.

REEVE wrote:Fair play to him he's made his money and has a good job outside of boxing, he's made the right decision

What is his job outside boxing? Hope he saved/invested his money. Always wished he stayed with enzo. Who knows what could have been. Still, he had a great career. He won it all despite not living up to the calzaghe protege tag he was given

rio wrote:

REEVE wrote:Fair play to him he's made his money and has a good job outside of boxing, he's made the right decision

What is his job outside boxing? Hope he saved/invested his money. Always wished he stayed with enzo. Who knows what could have been. Still, he had a great career. He won it all despite not living up to the calzaghe protege tag he was given

I'm sure I read in bn years ago he is a fully qaulified accountant (or something similar) I know he is highly educated

Can any of the lads on here help me out ?

REEVE wrote:

rio wrote:

REEVE wrote:Fair play to him he's made his money and has a good job outside of boxing, he's made the right decision

What is his job outside boxing? Hope he saved/invested his money. Always wished he stayed with enzo. Who knows what could have been. Still, he had a great career. He won it all despite not living up to the calzaghe protege tag he was given

I'm sure I read in bn years ago he is a fully qaulified accountant (or something similar) I know he is highly educated

Can any of the lads on here help me out ?

Maybe you are referring to the Bellew Words!
https://www.google.it/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... qzU8pdssUg

As many others have said, the heavy defeat to kovalev damaged his mentality and he always was a step short since

Personally never rated cleverly but I take my hat off that he was able to compete at the top for so long. If your hearts not in it then get out. He's not skilful enough to coast to some big pay packets

https://media.giphy.com/media/c9IDsR5ooqvW8/giphy.gif

Full respect to him for knowing when to call it a day and going out on his terms. He may not have gone out on a win but going out on the biggest event of the year, if not potentially the biggest fight to date, it counts for something.

With what he's achieved and who he's fought against, trained with, he can hold his head high and walk away. Well done to him.