BoxRec

The first half decent guy Cleverly gets in the ring with & he's outclassed in all aspects of the fight what's next for him?

Can he win another world title?

I wouldn't say he was outclassed, Kovalev just hit too hard.

Maybe not found out, just went above what he has experienced. He's no shaun hawk

I think murat and bellew were better than half decent.

expe wrote:I wouldn't say he was outclassed, Kovalev just hit too hard.

Cleverly barely landed a worthwhile punch

enzo mac for comonwealth title next

80/20 wrote:enzo mac for comonwealth title next

80/20 wrote:enzo mac for comonwealth title next

Sadly yes.

ouch. macca gets his wish!

gazzman87 wrote:

expe wrote:I wouldn't say he was outclassed, Kovalev just hit too hard.

Cleverly barely landed a worthwhile punch

He landed a couple of right hands, but I would guess and hope that the gameplan was to keep things tight early, don't get caught, take Kovalev deep into the fight. In doing that you do limit yourself attacking wise, but at times he was able to back Kovalev up a bit, not all the way to the ropes but Kovalev was being forced to take backward steps, not from punches, but from Cleverly's head movement and footwork.

I think we confirmed once again the WBO belt is no guarantee of world class.

ShadrachSimmo wrote:

80/20 wrote:enzo mac for comonwealth title next

Sadly yes.

Na there's more chance of Cleverly going to Matchroom than that fight. A change would do him good.

You could hear the thud of Kovalev's gloves on Clev!

Nath needs to get shot of Vince Clev too!

loaded_gloves wrote:I think we confirmed once again the WBO belt is no guarantee of world class.

That's no different to any other belt though.

Mass suicide in Wales.

What, so do you mean to tell me that the Hopkins fight isn't happening now?

I can see an Enzo fight on the horizon. I just have that feeling.

Drop back down to British level fight and the winner of Francis v Fry perhaps to help build up a Big Mac/ Cleverly showdown with British and Commonwealth belts on the line. Or does simply the Cardiff/Swansea rivalry sell it on it's own.

He's had a good run with what is a tracing paper title, look at his record he's fought no-one above British/fringe Euro class, Kovalev looks world/fringe world level so I guess he did get found out a bit tonight - just couldn't take the power at all.

I actually like Cleverly and he has some elements to his style that could still get him back to world level, e.g. his speed and flashy combos when he's flowing are class. He's just a classic case of a Warren fighter, over-protected and not exposed to enough quality opponents so his development has stalled big time.

The warning sign for me was the desperate struggle to get past Bellew, who with all due respect is another who hasn't yet proven himself beyond fringe-Euro level.

Cleverly now needs to re-assess his style, for someone of his speed, with his height and reach advantages, he is far too easy to hit and gets involved far too much. he got away with it earlier in his career so seemed to get too cocky and carried that through, but when he met someone with real power he suffered for it.

A match with the original Sergei Kovalev.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Kovalev

I hope it's not Enzo as I want him to go in his own journey, but that would be a big seller.

Koloev looked pure class. Clev ain't know mug but it is all about levels. The Russian is world class and you could see that with in the first 30 secs of the fight ....Clev can come again but tonight he come up against an elite level fighter....

Top level fighting is all about defence ....no disrespect to the Clev team but u can see that all his training is based around work rate and pressure....when you reach the top level u need to be a little more slicker in defence and not just try to fight every move on the front foot....

But you can pick faults all night long...bottom line is Kolev is the real deal

Bet B Hop beats him tho....

jaybilltom wrote:Koloev looked pure class. Clev ain't know mug but it is all about levels. The Russian is world class and you could see that with in the first 30 secs of the fight ....Clev can come again but tonight he come up against an elite level fighter....

Top level fighting is all about defence ....no disrespect to the Clev team but u can see that all his training is based around work rate and pressure....when you reach the top level u need to be a little more slicker in defence and not just try to fight every move on the front foot....

But you can pick faults all night long...bottom line is Kolev is the real deal

Bet B Hop beats him tho....

Im still not totally sold on Kovalev but he was clearly too good for Cleverly tonight.

Maybe a slick fighter like Dawson (forget last fight) may give him trouble...but Clev lack of defence made him easy picking tonight....holding ur hands up around ur ears ain't defending. Gutted for him and his team tho. And hats off to him for taking fight in the first place

I think there may have been another fight last night which showed what you need to do when you have lost a world title fight. Last night didn't define Cleverly, what he does now will do that.