I think Cleverly was undoubtedly the star of the show tonight, although the performance was a surprising and an exciting one it was obvious he could have picked up the win tonight without putting himself in any trouble. Hes certainly arrived on the world stage now though His variety of shots was excellent IMO, he had worked out the shots that would get through Murats stiff guard and used them to good effect. He really has made a vast improvement on his offence over recent years. Compared to the Cleverly before the Oakey fight we are now seeing an imposing high workrate fighter with very fast hands. How do people see him against the top guys in the division at the moment? Is he up to the challenge of a title shot in his next fight? His defence needs to be sorted but at 23 I think we should be very excited about Cleverlys prospects.
I don't think he'd embarrass himself at all if he went in with Pascal. The good things Cleverly showed tonight for me were that he could take a punch, he wasn't bothered by the power of this guy at all. I know Murat isn't a murderous puncher at all but Cleverly never blinked which is promising. And he doesn't look that strong but he clearly is. Remember Carl Froch pulled away from Pascal towards the end and Cleverly has a superb engine on him. Pascal got away with throwing 5 punches a round against Dawson because Dawson wouldn't pull the trigger. Cleverly wouldn't allow him that luxury.
Good performance tonight, Murat was one paced and didn't offer much variety but Cleverly showed he can fight inside, take a punch and is willing to battle though to win a fight. at this level. The only thing is Ant when I hear a boxer on the verge of world class being described as "his defence needs to be sorted out" then the alarm bells start ringing. Its not something that usually gets sorted while the guy is trying to win world titles, it should be needing to be fine tuned, not sorted.
His defence wasn't as bad tonight as it was against Brancalion. I think it did improve slightly, he was using some kind of shoulder roll which actually looked kind of okay for a lanky twat. He did get hit but I think you have to accept a certain amount of crazyness with a fighter like Cleverly who throws thousands of punches and has macho in him. He's exactly like Joe was in that respect.
One thing i love about Clev is the leverage he gets on those uppercuts, that's his money shot there he repeatedly snapped back Murat's head with those all night. Against someone with a looser guard he could do some real damage with them. Reminded me alot of Calzaghe tonight; stamina wise, throws fast punches in flurries. I think he'll give us heart attacks over the next few years, but there's something special about him, a star was born tonight.
I think my defence statement was probably a little vague. Its certainly not going to be great but I think the bigger problem tonight was going in for a war too much...not thinking about what he is doing and putting himself in danger...more that than a leaky defence. He could have kept Murat at the end of his jab all night if he wanted to....given the improvement hes made on his offence recently I would have confidence in him tightening up his defence. As he continues to move up in class and subsequently get him more he should hopefully pay more attention to it.
He's been influenced by Joe heavily, everything about him. The combinations, his attitude, that stupid thing he does where he showboats when he gets caught, the way he trades when he gets hit. Murat was perfect for that uppercut really being so stationary and squared on.
Agreed, Pascals gameplan for Dawson wouldn't work on Cleverly. I was surprised by his workrate tonight, hardly dropped a bit across the 10 rounds. Clev against Shumenov or Cloud would make for good viewing as well, and I see him winning both of those as well. Shumenov and Cloud both have great engines but Clev has the speed and quality to win those. I really think Cleverly should try and capitalise now, the LHW division is not of the best of standards tomorrow and he could really put his stamp on the division. Before the likes of Ward and Dirrell move up.
Plenty of positives from the fight, esp "outmanning" a fighter like Murat. The defence issue is just one of those things that always catches my eye. If I had a fiver for every prospect who "just needs to tighten up his defence" in order to become a world champ....;O)
Even his ring entrance was up to scratch tonight after that techno rave shite last time...needs to ditch the headband though, he's no Eric Young
antcull I notice you commented on my thread on the general about Cleverly. I think, right at this very minute, Cleverly is now our very best fighter. Forget the likes of Haye and Khan for now. Cleverly has come and blown over his opponents. I would wager that anyone who saw the Murat fight when it was signed thought "this is a hard one for Cleverly". Now that he he dealt with him in convincing fashion, we have to admit we have something special on our hands here. Add to the fact he wants to unify the 175 title within 2 years speaks volumes; not only about his belief, but his confidence and desire. I'd also say some of the Yanks are now taking notice.
Sorry to **** on your bonfire but I didn't really think Murat was a tough one for Cleverly He's always looked a plodder and he was always going to get shown up by such an athletic work horse like Clev. The only way anyone ever saw Murat was winning was by a big punch. That rarely materializes..when fighters need a 'big punch' to win a fight and thats their only avenue. On the defence thing, I think its just the way the sports gone. How many prospects coming through anywhere have great defence? They all have great offense. Not defence. There might be a few exceptions. And when you're looking for improvements in impressive prospects that are undefeated naturally the only thing to look to is when they get hit.
I also have a theory on that:hey......not enough fights to learn the trade. Some guys today (not Clev specifically) are having 12-15 fights in their first 3 years as a pro, the next thing they are 26-27 years old, in their physical prime and want to start fighting the best in the world.
It's surely something where most headway should be made in the gym and quality sparring. They should have very focused sparring sessions on defence. Like if they get hit a certain number of times they stop the round and address what was going wrong, start again, put it into practice. It's no good turning up and trying to be Whitaker against a load of bums.
Even quality sparing is no substitute for competitive fights against a variety of styles. Otherwise why not just spar for 4 years and then go straight for a world title shot?