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| Cleverly is making a name for himself in LA |
Being Welsh and a massive Boxing fan, this is a very exciting weekend for myself, it's great to see British fighters going over to the States and this looks like an opportunity for Cleverly to really shine. Just like proposed opponent Ryan Coyne, Hawk looks like an opponent who will make the Cefn Fforest man look good. "The Sioux Warrior" is not that much of a step up in class from Nathan's last opponent Tommy Karpency, but to me this is not really about who he's fighting, it's about looking spectacular and getting the guys over in the USA excited.
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| Cleverly didn't tuck into this Man v Food type meal |
Frank Warren and Cleverly have been touting for a fight with the likes of Dawson, Hopkins and Shumenov for a good year or so now, and if Cleverly comes through this test, then a showdown with a top five ranked opponent has to come. If you look at the Boxrec rankings now and you will see Nathan at #6 and Tony Bellew #5, which suggests that people should get off his back in terms of who he's fought, Bellew is an excellent fighter, but what the rankings suggest is that Nathan hasn't been too impressive of late and hasn't been fighting the right calibre of opponent.
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| Hawk is not a big name, but is a dangerous puncher |
Hawk is ranked #50 in the world with the respected online rankings, and unlike Bellew's last opponent Edison Miranda, he doesn't have a great name in the sport. He's a serious puncher with 17 of his 23 wins coming early, but last time out he was outclassed over 12 rounds by then 8-0 former amateur standout Eleider Alvarez, therefore you're expecting Cleverly to win comfortably, but I've seen Alvarez fight and he's a devastating KO Artist, so this could be a test.
It's a great weekend of Boxing in the USA, Moreno v Mares on the same bill is a brilliant fight and I'm a massive fan of Leo Santa Cruz, who's also on show at the Staples Center, but this is the fight I've got my eye on and tracking the buildup already, there seems to be plenty of hype about Nathan over there. BoxNation are showing it over here and Showtime are expected to open their telecast with Cleverly's title defence. Warren has done a great job of getting him on the bill, now Nathan needs to deliver a top class performance, and move on to a huge fight.
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| Bute didn't impress in a light heavyweight venture on Saturday |
Interestingly Lucian Bute fought at light heavyweight at the weekend and if that proposed rematch with Froch doesn't happen, I would think of him as a perfect test for Nathan, a fresh and hungry fighter would destroy the version of the Canadian-Romanian we saw at the weekend, he looked like a fighter with a lot missing from his game.
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