BoxRec

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/others ... fight.html

Nathan Cleverly accuses Carl Froch of being 'deluded and disrespectful' after rejecting fight
World light-heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly has rounded on super-middleweight champion Carl Froch, accusing the double world title belt holder of being “deluded and disrespectful”.

Cleverly was left in limbo after Sergey Kovalev failed to appear for a news conference in London announcing the Welshman’s sixth defence of the WBO light-heavyweight title destined for Cardiff on August 17 against the Russian.
Promoter allegedly admitted he was as mystified as the unbeaten 26-year-old Welshman as they awaited confirmation on a bout with the International Boxing Federation’s mandatory challenger Kovalev.
The contest with Kovalev was all but signed last week, though the indications are that the IBF, based in New Jersey, are insisting that their light-heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins must defend his belt against the Russian.
Warren revealed that Main Events, who promote Kovalev, have gone cold on facing Cleverly, having just last week been in the process of requesting Visa details and work permit notices to fight in the UK. It has left Cleverly wondering where to go next.
The Welshman defeated mandatory challenger Robin Krasniqi by unanimous decision in his last defence at Wembley Arena in April, and maintains a desire to face both Kovalev, or indeed, Bernard Hopkins, at 48 the oldest world champion in history.

“We’ve been in talks with Richard Schaefer at Golden Boy Promotions about the Hopkins fight as well. We were even talking about it last week,” revealed Warren.
The mystery of Kovalev’s withdrawal under promoter Kathy Duva of Main Events is even more intriguing given that Home Box Office, the American network which screens boxing, had ratified the Cleverly-Kovalev contest on their boxing schedule.
"It's a fight that would make my name in America," Cleverly said.
"I've seen all the emails and from our side, everything is sorted and the deal is done. Maybe he wants to fight Bernard Hopkins instead. We won't wait forever, we don't need him.”
Cleverly baulked at critics on social networking sites who had criticized the opponent. "I mentioned Kovalev on Twitter yesterday and people responded by saying I was fighting another taxi driver," he said. "That's the mindset of some of these morons who know nothing. Watch him fight and then tell me he's a taxi driver. Hatred on Twitter can break a person or destroy them. It inspires me.
“He’s unbeaten in 21 fights and he has made two world class opponents look ordinary. He’s one of the top-four punchers in the world. I want to face him, and I'm on my way to dominating this division. It will happen."
Kovalev won a lot of admirers Stateside by knocking out Cornelius White in three rounds last Friday and afterwards he called out the veteran IBF champion Hopkins.
With Hopkins having lost his July 13 fight against Karo Murat due to the German’s visa issues, Hopkins could be tempted to take on Kovalev on that date instead.
Warren revealed he had also extended a challenge to Cleverly’s fellow world champion Carl Froch, at a catchweight between light-heavyweight and super-middleweight, with Cleverly’s WBO belt on the line.
“We offered Froch two and a half million pounds for the fight and Eddie Hearn had come back within 30 minutes rejecting the contest,” Warren told Telegraph Sport. “There would have been no threat to his super-middleweight belts. But he wasn’t interested.”
Cleverly added: "I was prepared to come down from light-heavyweight to make it happen. I've got respect for his achievements but for him to say I'm not worthy is ridiculous."
“I see him as deluded and disrespectful. Some of the things Froch has come out with are outrageous. He's self-proclaimed and calling himself the best British fighter in history is a joke.
"He was outboxed by Andre Ward, Andre Dirrell and Jermain Taylor. He lost to Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward. I don't think he'll fight me because he knows my style would beat him."

The contest with Kovalev was all but signed last week, though the indications are that the IBF, based in New Jersey, are insisting that their light-heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins must defend his belt against the Russian.

All but signed... so it wasn't actually signed. So bunny goes ahead with the press conference regardless. Turning in to a joke really

danconnollyeire wrote:

The contest with Kovalev was all but signed last week, though the indications are that the IBF, based in New Jersey, are insisting that their light-heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins must defend his belt against the Russian.

All but signed... so it wasn't actually signed. So bunny goes ahead with the press conference regardless. Turning in to a joke really

HBO's tweets implied it was almost done. To be fair, Clev wants the fight.

mickey1975 wrote:

danconnollyeire wrote:

The contest with Kovalev was all but signed last week, though the indications are that the IBF, based in New Jersey, are insisting that their light-heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins must defend his belt against the Russian.

All but signed... so it wasn't actually signed. So bunny goes ahead with the press conference regardless. Turning in to a joke really

HBO's tweets implied it was almost done. To be fair, Clev wants the fight.

But to be fair, Bunny makes a million and one statements who he's fighters are fighting. He should get full on confirmation first (we all knew Kolaev was BHop's mandatory). Emails DONT COUNT

Well, somebody is certainly deluded and disrespectful here but I'm pretty sure it's not Froch.

yep clev, don't try to use froch's name to keep your own in the papers!

froch v cleverly would be a superb fight, though.

how about clev-stevenson?

Cleverly is the British fighter I like the least at the moment.

If he can't get Kovalev then so what? There are plenty of other good fighters in the division, just fight anyone half decent.

Autobarn wrote:yep clev, don't try to use froch's name to keep your own in the papers!

froch v cleverly would be a superb fight, though.

how about clev-stevenson?

Superb if you hate Cleverly you mean.

Anyway, COLOUR ME SURPRISED about these developments! Yeah, Frank, everything was signed and sealed then boom! CONFUSING BEHAVIOUR FROM OPPONENT that has left everyone BAFFLED and suddenly the fight isn't happening due to SOMEONE ELSE'S FAULT!

This isn't at all something that has happened before.

Stevenson has already said Clev 'who?' essentially.

Froch was outboxed by Ward, Dirrell and Taylor, yet has wins against two of them. He lost to Kessler, well he beat Kessler. I can't see why Clev thinks his style is all wrong for Froch. Sure he has high work rate but he isn't particularly slick, doesn't have any pop and is easy to hit. That's why I don't think it would be particularly competitive.

Bringing it back to Stevenson highlights why a Froch-Clev fight won't happen. Adonis has said he would gladly travel to England to fight Froch as he is a big name, a worthy champion and Stevenson wants to fight the best now. He said Clev hasn't beat anybody and Bellew ain't on his radar until they enforce his mandatory.

Different levels. Clev needs to either reach that level by beating a couple of top, top names or hope Carl loses and comes down a level.

What about Dawson? He will be looking for a way back in at some point. I'm sure he would ( rightly so ) fancy the job against Clev.

I actually rate cleverly. the raw material is there - fitness, strength, handspeed. he seems tough and can impose himself late in a fight.

but he looks so crude. I think, like froch, also of a gangling, disjointed style, also a guy who gets hit a lot, Nathan needs to learn what he's doing wrong. and the way froch learned this was by fighting the likes of pascal, taylor, dirrell, Kessler, Abraham, Johnson, ward, bute and Kessler again. performances naturally have been uneven but there is a revenge win pointing at a level of improvement, two absolute dominations (bute & Abraham) to rival calzaghe's 2 masterpieces (lacy, Kessler)...

one the plus side for cleverly, he's fairly young. and he also has a division that can test him - awkward/negative boxers like Hopkins and dawson; punchers kovalev, Stevenson, maybe cloud; etc etc etc. and if he can get something from this, there's shumenov holding a title. braehmer isn't that bad, is fairly well rated at the moment. this would be a decent start.

are the german promoters not pushing for it?

get some big wins and then the dream fight with froch can become reality.

cleverly is in a division with a rich history. i'd like to see some urgency as to making his mark. Nathan is probably the freshest guy in the division. I hope they're not waiting for everyone to get old/get beaten.

Autobarn wrote:I actually rate cleverly. the raw material is there - fitness, strength, handspeed. he seems tough and can impose himself late in a fight.

but he looks so crude. I think, like froch, also of a gangling, disjointed style, also a guy who gets hit a lot, Nathan needs to learn what he's doing wrong. and the way froch learned this was by fighting the likes of pascal, taylor, dirrell, Kessler, Abraham, Johnson, ward, bute and Kessler again. performances naturally have been uneven but there is a revenge win pointing at a level of improvement, two absolute dominations (bute & Abraham) to rival calzaghe's 2 masterpieces (lacy, Kessler)...

one the plus side for cleverly, he's fairly young. and he also has a division that can test him - awkward/negative boxers like Hopkins and dawson; punchers kovalev, Stevenson, maybe cloud; etc etc etc. and if he can get something from this, there's shumenov holding a title. braehmer isn't that bad, is fairly well rated at the moment. this would be a decent start.

are the german promoters not pushing for it?

get some big wins and then the dream fight with froch can become reality.

cleverly is in a division with a rich history. i'd like to see some urgency as to making his mark. Nathan is probably the freshest guy in the division. I hope they're not waiting for everyone to get old/get beaten.

I agree with you totally, he is a very good fighter and I am sure he will prove himself in time.

Better off fighting a few no namers just now because if he wins when he steps up there will be a waiting list a mile long wanting to fight him.

I just think its another Enzo in the making. Not in terms of style etc but how it will end.

When he does find himself in the ring with an elite fighter, if indeed he ever does, it will be a case of being undercooked and will end abruptly.

Allegedly has a history of not preparing his charges for the real deal. Look at how it went for Mitchell.

I wouldn't mind him maybe seeking pastures new...might get his career kick started properly.

Autobarn wrote:I actually rate cleverly. the raw material is there - fitness, strength, handspeed. he seems tough and can impose himself late in a fight.

but he looks so crude. I think, like froch, also of a gangling, disjointed style, also a guy who gets hit a lot, Nathan needs to learn what he's doing wrong. and the way froch learned this was by fighting the likes of pascal, taylor, dirrell, Kessler, Abraham, Johnson, ward, bute and Kessler again. performances naturally have been uneven but there is a revenge win pointing at a level of improvement, two absolute dominations (bute & Abraham) to rival calzaghe's 2 masterpieces (lacy, Kessler)...

one the plus side for cleverly, he's fairly young. and he also has a division that can test him - awkward/negative boxers like Hopkins and dawson; punchers kovalev, Stevenson, maybe cloud; etc etc etc. and if he can get something from this, there's shumenov holding a title. braehmer isn't that bad, is fairly well rated at the moment. this would be a decent start.

are the german promoters not pushing for it?

get some big wins and then the dream fight with froch can become reality.

cleverly is in a division with a rich history. i'd like to see some urgency as to making his mark. Nathan is probably the freshest guy in the division. I hope they're not waiting for everyone to get old/get beaten.

Froch will be long retired by the time Cleverly wins a big fight.

Horse wrote:Cleverly is the British fighter I like the least at the moment.

If he can't get Kovalev then so what? There are plenty of other good fighters in the division, just fight anyone half decent.

I bet he will be devastated when he finds out

taffytoon wrote:I bet he will be devastated when he finds out

With the way he was bitching about people on the internet not respecting him, I think he might be.

Why does Cleverly think he is worthy?

Was it the dominant win over Krasniqi? Or maybe it was the way he dispatched Shawn Hawk.

Froch and Cleverly belong in different eras. There's nothing but bragging rights for Froch if he beats Cleverly, why on earth would he fight him?

Much like Froch chasing down Calzaghe, it just doesn't make sense and will never happen.

Froch has far bigger fish to fry, and will retire after he's had his fights with Ward and possibly Hopkins.

Cleverly has tools, but has yet to prove he has the burning desire to win and toughness that Froch displayed in the fight with Taylor, where he turned the fight on it's head with seconds to spare.

Taylor was a very technically good boxer, and with time, his wins, as contentious as they might be considered by some, look better and better with time. He was a little diminished by the time Carl got him, and not proven at 168, but still far better than anyone Cleverly can point to on his resume.

I like Clev as a fighter, but being with Warren is doing him no favours, he's struggling for decent fights and his progress seems to have really stalled. Calling out Froch is definitely desperation and publicity seeking.

TheCobra wrote:I like Clev as a fighter, but being with Warren is doing him no favours, he's struggling for decent fights and his progress seems to have really stalled. Calling out Froch is definitely desperation and publicity seeking.

Yeah, it's about as likely to work, as me trying to hook up with Naomi Campbell by putting an ad in the classified section of loot.

lillywhite14 wrote: Allegedly has a history of not preparing his charges for the real deal. Look at how it went for Mitchell.
.

What was wrong with the way Warren handled Mitchell?

jamesmcdonnell wrote: Froch has far bigger fish to fry, and will retire after he's had his fights with Ward and possibly Hopkins.

I agree Froch has bigger fish to fry, but after he fights Ward again and most likely loses why not a fight with Cleverly? The fight would surely be more financially rewarding than a fight with Hopkins.

Clev is just too big. Not that I think he beats Froch at all but Carl probably ony walks around out of training at 173/4lbs.

Even a catch weight of 173 would see Cleverly probably a stone heavier on fight night. Clev coming down to 168lb is the only way it happens.

SNG wrote:

lillywhite14 wrote: Allegedly has a history of not preparing his charges for the real deal. Look at how it went for Mitchell.
.

What was wrong with the way Warren handled Mitchell?

Mitchell wasn't good enough to win world titles obviously but he wasn't put in the best position in terms of development, when his shot came round.

He went from facing league one opponents to premier league without breaching the gap. It would be the same for Clev. Undercooked and won't be giving himself the best chance ( although like a mitchell I don't think he is good enough to win genuine world titles )

lillywhite14 wrote:

SNG wrote:

lillywhite14 wrote: Allegedly has a history of not preparing his charges for the real deal. Look at how it went for Mitchell.
.

What was wrong with the way Warren handled Mitchell?

Mitchell wasn't good enough to win world titles obviously but he wasn't put in the best position in terms of development, when his shot came round.

He went from facing league one opponents to premier league without breaching the gap. It would be the same for Clev. Undercooked and won't be giving himself the best chance ( although like a mitchell I don't think he is good enough to win genuine world titles )

I don't know about that. Prescott was not a bad bout for someone hunting for Katsidis. He got it at home too, in his back yard. I don't think Mitchell can complain at all with the way he was handled.

johnswan1 wrote:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/others ... fight.html

Nathan Cleverly accuses Carl Froch of being 'deluded and disrespectful' after rejecting fight

I didn't get past this line.

This explains which one of them is deluded, and it aint Froch.