Magnificent Seven preview: Nathan Cleverly
An articulate boxer who holds a degree and is called Nathan Cleverly is a tabloid headline writer’s dream come true.
The boxing-clever Welshman who got a 2:2 in pure maths at Cardiff University earlier this year but turned his back on the world of accounting to follow his dream of becoming a world champion pugilist.
Fancying himself as a rib cruncher rather than a number cruncher, Cleverly is currently trying to wade through a highly competitive light-heavyweight division. The depth in quality at 12-and-half stone is quite something, boasting the likes of Jean Pascal, Travois Cloud, Chad Dawson, Bernard Hopkins and Zsolt Erdei among others.
As far as British boxing is concerned Cleverly is one of the best hopes of a strong young batch of fighters and he is looking to upset the light-heavyweight party.
Cleverly decided to turn professional in 2005 after boasting a fine amateur pedigree of 36 fights, 32 wins and also showed promise as a long-distance runner and footballer as well as being academically proficient. He joins Joe Calzaghe, Gavin Rees and others as a product of Newport Boxing Club, but split from mentor Enzo Calzaghe after Joe had a massive falling out with mutual promoter Frank Warren.
He is a well-rounded fighter possessing a solid chin, good hand speed, nice technique and a snappy jab. At 6ft 3in tall he’s got a big frame for this division and a long reach which he uses from the centre of the ring to dictate the flow. The Welshman is undefeated and in a rich vein of form with six knockout victories in his last six fights and claiming the Commonwealth, British and European belts at various stages.
In his last fight, against wily Italian veteran Antonio Brancalion, he put on a show-stopping display of classy boxing to out muscle his opponent with technique and style. It was typical Clev, sitting behind a fast left jab and working the challenger around the ring.
If there was any criticism of Cleverly it would be that he hasn’t quite developed that knockout punch to add to his arsenal and on a couple of occasions he could have KO’d his opponents earlier for a more emphatic win. So far he has fought journeymen and second-tier fighters as he builds his career, but with the quality of opposition currently found in the light-heavyweights he may need to find that striking finish. At just 23 years old he has time to develop a real fizz-dipper and he is certainly getting closer to finding that power with his recent successive stoppages.
There’s no denying Cleverly has shown ambition and confidence by making a big step up to take on Karo Murat this weekend. Like Cleverly, Murat is an undefeated hopeful looking to infiltrate the big guns of the division. It’s a brave choice by the Welshman and it will fire him in among the elite if he wins because it will act as an eliminator bout for the WBO title currently held by Jürgen Brähmer.
Still if it were all to come to a disastrous end at least the city would gain one tough banker.
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