Let's be honest, he's nowhere near a world champion. But that's nothing against him, that's the way boxing is at the moment. Anyone with a decent promoter can become a world champion. Clev's still young though and I think he has a decent chance of becoming a genuine world champion some day although it's still 4 or 5 years away.
Cleverly is good at what he does which is solid consistent work rate and his inside game is excellent however the problem is he's got the belt and he's calling out the likes of Hopkins. What would happen against Hopkins is as we all know Cleverly will run into someone who slows the tempo and just frustrates him and outboxes him like he did with Pascal. Personally the best FIGHT out there for Cleverly that I think is winnable is one with Cloud, stylistically it would be an absolute war, one in which Cleverly could outwork Cloud over the twelve rounds providing he doesn't get knocked out of course.
Other prospects Luis Garcia and Ismael Silakh would beat him handily in my opinion. He'll never be a top dog, his defence is just too poor.
Thats true but to be fair to dawson he has a new trainer and the ring rust showed, im going to wait until his next fight before i make a decision. If dawson does fight Hopkins then hell be ruined goods, the guy has no heart and then it would be an easy fight for clev as he starts to develop, im just mad the ref stopped the fight early, clev needs the experience and it was looking to be a good tear up. none the less the question is whos next for clev?
It's almost a bit laughable that he has a belt now. Frank was obviously working the situation to get him a belt, and he has become fairly good at doing it over the years. But then the German lad pulled out, and Clev was given the belt, for doing nothing, because Warren wanted him to have it and the WBO wanted it too. If you stand back and look at what happened, it's so embarrassing for boxing that it's almost funny. Even Cleverly was a bit unsure about calling himself a champion during the week.
Frank is a scumbag, the dude only cares about making money for himself. its why Hatton, Calzaghe and Khan all left him, because hed much rather waste his fighters career having them face pointless opponents rather than getting them the big matches until he has no use for them and cashes out. He took groves lightly and did you see his face? Cleverly on the other hand is a breath of fresh air when it comes to fighters, Hes willing to face anyone, wouldnt call himself the champion till he won the title in the ring and stood up to some cocky twat giving him lip. GBP needs to sign up the Clever boy, would do wonders for his career. Theyd get him stateside, get him more exposure, better trainer, bigger fights. You gotta love the yanks at times boys haha
I think Clev needs to work on his defence a bit more as at world level it looks to leaky and he would pay the price for leaving his chin in the air. That said i really like the Kid, i think he has the tools to become a future star in the sport, if i was Oscar i would keep a keen eye on this guy, he comes to fight, trains hard, is a good looking kid, still young, how ever he got the belt he is a champion at the weight now. One thing i think Clev needs to do is get a decent top level trainer, this father son is a good thing but i think in his case his father is not of Floyd sr or even Enzo's level in my view, Clev has talent but it needs the right trainer make the best use of it.
I think Warren's problem is that he can't handle star fighters. He's brilliant at topping up their bank balances with easy defences but when they eventually get sick of seeing the Americans make big money in their weight class or being called a stay at home champion and want to test themselves, his ass falls out. There's only so many ''former champions'' or ''never been stopped'' guys that you can face without getting bored. Hopefully Cleverly gets himself a genuine top 10 opponent first up, then within a year start looking at knocking the other champions off their perch.
Its obviously going to be a slow burning title "reign". Warren won't put him in with a live opponent for a while; he's just got too many flaws. His development has obviously been stunted by his studies - maybe one day he'll be a top fighter, but i expect a few Burns like defences to help him learn his craft - and as long as we're not kidded into thinking of him as a ppv star, then this is fair enough.
Could grow into a legitimate champion if future fights are forthcoming, but his recklessness will be his downfall. Great for the fans though.
He needs a new trainer to tighten up that defence. he gets caught with punches he doesnt see when exchanging Good action fighter though, and people will always pay to see an action fighter As for the WBO farce, id be surprised if an intelligent guy like nathan wasnt embarassed by it