Nathan Cleverly

Nathan Cleverly
File:Nathan Cleverly.jpg Cleverly in 2007
Statistics
Rated at	Light heavyweight Cruiserweight
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Reach	74 in (188 cm)
Nationality	British
Born	(1987-02-17) 17 February 1987 Caerphilly, Wales
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	32
Wins	29
Wins by KO	15
Losses	3

Nathan Cleverly (born 17 February 1987) is a British professional boxer from Caerphilly, Wales. He is a former WBO light heavyweight champion, having also held the European, British and Commonwealth light heavyweight titles. He graduated with a BSc in mathematics from Cardiff University in 2010.

Professional career

Early Career

Cleverly made his professional debut in July 2005 with a four round victory over journeyman Ernie Smith at the Meadowbank Sports Center in Edinburgh and within a year had compiled a winning ledger of 6–0. His first fight of substance however was in October 2006 when he met Liverpool's Tony Quigley at the MEN Arena in Manchester. The fight which was on the undercard to the match up between Joe Calzaghe and Sakio Bika ended in a 5th round stoppage for Cleverly and handed Quigley his first pro defeat.

The next big test for the young prospect took place at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff just over a year later in September 2007 when Cleverly met tough Ugandan Joey Vegas. Cleverly at that time boasted a record of 10–0 and Vegas 10–1. The fight ended with a gruelling points win over 8 rounds for the Welshman in what was his toughest fight to date. Speaking about the result to the BBC and referring to the sparring he received in the Enzo Calzaghe gym, Cleverly said "I'm still young and won't be hitting my peak for about eight years, but think how good the wars I'm having in the gym now are doing me for the future ... I want to keep on progressing, to go for the British title, then maybe a world crown in a couple of years."

Cleverly had made a point of fighting on the undercards of his stablemate Joe Calzaghe with the Vegas fight being one of the prelims to Calzaghe's World title unification fight against Mikkel Kessler. The next stop however was the real Vegas, Las Vegas to support Calzaghe's attempt to win The Ring's Light heavyweight belt against American fighter Bernard Hopkins. Cleverly, fighting outside the UK for the first time as a pro also faced American opposition and beat Antonio Baker over 8 rounds.

In September 2008, the young boxer chose to leave Enzo Calzaghe's Newbridge boxing club where he had trained throughout his career and begin training at his father's gym in South Wales. Speaking about his decision to leave the gym Cleverly said "I have been trained by Enzo Calzaghe for six years since my youth days so leaving him has been one of the hardest decision I've ever had to make ... Enzo is largely responsible for where I am in my career and I cannot thank him enough for what he has done for me." Cleverly had been concerned following the legal wranglings between promoter Frank Warren and his former stablemate Joe Calzaghe and added "I cannot take any chances with my career ... I take boxing very seriously and want to be world champion. Hopefully Frank can sort that out for me."

Commonwealth champion

"I have worked hard for this but this is just the start for me – I want to rule the world"

— Nathan Cleverly, speaking after winning the commonwealth title

In October 2008, Cleverly landed a shot at the vacant Commonwealth light heavyweight title topping the bill for the first time in his career at the Everton Park Sports Centre in Liverpool. His opponent was the experienced former British champion Tony Oakey who he beat on points over 12 rounds. Speaking after picking up his first belt Cleverly said "What a memorable night for me, winning a title is something I have dreamed of since I was a kid ... I have worked hard for this but this is just the start for me – I want to rule the world."

Cleverly defended his title just two months later in December against Kenyan Douglas Otieno. The African fighter, who came into the contest with a record of 18–1, was no match for the Welshman and was stopped in the 4th round. In February 2009 he defended for the second time against another Kenyan, Samson Onyang winning via knockout in the 1st round. On 22 May 2009 he scored a second round stoppage over Billy Boyle for his third defence of the title.

British champion

The victory over Boyle set Cleverly up for a shot at the vacant British title on 18 July 2009 against English champion Danny McIntosh. Fighting at the York Hall Cleverly knocked McIntosh down on four occasions before the referee stepped in to stop the fight in the 7th round ensuring that Cleverly could add the Lonsdale Belt to his Commonwealth. Following the victory Cleverly laid claim to being the best light heavyweight in Britain, despite the fact that fellow Brit Clinton Woods was soon to be travelling to Florida in a challenge for the vacant IBF World title against Tavoris Cloud. Cleverly saying that whenever the fight between himself and Woods could be made, he would be ready for it. Former champion Woods would go on to lose the fight and promptly announced his retirement from boxing. On 25 September 2009 Cleverly was pipped to the prestigious Boxing Writers Club young boxer of the year award by only one vote losing out to British welterweight champion Kell Brook in what was the closest vote in the history of the award.

On 9 October 2009 Cleverly defended both belts for the very first time against former Commonwealth games gold medallist Courtney Fry. The fight, at the York Hall, resulted in an 8th round stoppage for Cleverly against a man who had been a successful amateur. Even more crucial for the Welshman was the news that prior to the fight he had been nominated to fight for the European title and that any loss to Fry would have scuppered those plans.

European Champion

"As well as crunching numbers, I've had to fight for the British, Commonwealth and European titles as well, and spend most evenings hitting the heavy bag and doing numerous press ups and sit ups"

— Nathan Cleverly, on studying for a Maths degree whilst being a professional boxer

On 13 February 2010 Cleverly took on Antonio Brancalion at Wembley Arena in a bid to gain the vacant European light-heavyweight title. The fight was won in the fifth round, the victory coming by way of knock out after two earlier knock downs in the previous round. In winning he became only the seventh Welshman to hold the British, Commonwealth and European titles. In addition to winning titles, Cleverly had during the same time period been studying for a Maths degree at Cardiff University eventually gaining a 2:2 degree. Speaking after securing his degree in May 2010 he claimed the studying and the boxing combined had taken its toll saying "All the other students in my year have been able to concentrate full-time on getting their degrees ... But as well as crunching numbers, I've had to fight for the British, Commonwealth and European titles as well, and spend most evenings hitting the heavy bag and doing numerous press ups and sit ups."

WBO light heavyweight champion

File:Nathan Cleverly 2010.jpg

Cleverly at the Cardiff City Stadium in Wales in August 2010.

On 18 September 2010 Cleverly faced the unbeaten Karo Murat at the LG Arena in Birmingham in an eliminator for the WBO light heavyweight title. Cleverly moved one step closer to a match up with reigning champion Jürgen Brähmer with a ninth round TKO to win the fight which was one of the main events on Frank Warren's 'Magnificent Seven' event. Murat, a former European champion at super middleweight, struggled to match the Welshman after an explosive start and after being rocked in the 9th, the referee decided to stop the fight prior to the commencement of the 10th. Cleverly earned the interim version of the belt on 11 December 2010 in an unimpressive contest with the Frenchman Nadjib Mohammedi at the Echo Arena in Liverpool. Winning 115–112, 116–111 and 115–113 on the scorecards despite also having a point deducted Cleverly described his opponent as "very awkward" and said "he was making me miss and dragging me in but this is the way it goes sometimes." Cleverly had fought for the interim title as the full champion Jürgen Brähmer was in the midst of an appeal against a 16-month jail sentence for assault and insulting behaviour. An appeal heard in Germany on 13 December 2010 would, if Brähmer had been unsuccessful and sent to prison, have resulted in the belt being vacated and Cleverly being upgraded to the full champion status. Proceedings however didn't result in the champion being sent to prison and a fight with Brähmer was scheduled for 21 May 2011. Speaking of the match up Cleverly said that he was glad that it was going to happen saying "He's the champion and the only way I would consider myself a true champion is if I took the belt from him, rather than picking up the vacant title." Prior to the fight at The O2 Arena in London, Brähmer pulled out citing an eye injury received in training which had failed to heal properly. The pullout resulted in the loss of the main event for the show and speculation that Cleverly would be awarded the full WBO title by default. Brähmer's replacement was found in undefeated British fighter Tony Bellew, the current Commonwealth champion. Bellew, however, failed to make the weight and a second replacement was found in Polish veteran Aleksy Kuziemski, a man ranked at number 11 in the world by the WBO. Despite the disruption, Cleverly, who had been awarded the full title following Brähmers pullout, made a successful first defence to retain the title. The fight ended in the fourth round after a cut to the Kuziemski was deemed bad enough for the referee to stop the fight. Speaking of his achievement Cleverly said "I felt it was my destiny tonight ... Ever since I first put the gloves on when I was 11 this was the night I've been dreaming of ... Now I'll say Nathan Cleverly is the light-heavyweight champion of the world".

Title Defences

Cleverly made his first defence of his WBO title on 15 October 2011 with a hard fought majority points decision against Tony Bellew in Liverpool. The fight, at the Echo Arena, was considered to be one of Cleverly's "hardest days in the office" with one judge scoring the contest a draw. The fight had an ill-tempered build up with the two clashing during the weigh in resulting in a hostile reception for the champion against the home challenger.

Cleverly made his second defence of his WBO title returning to Wales for the first time since winning his WBO title on 25 February 2012 with a unanimous points decision against Tommy Karpency.

Cleverly made his third defence of his WBO title - his first in the USA - with an 8th-round stoppage against American Shawn Hawk in Los Angeles on 10 November 2012.

On 20 April 2013 Cleverly made his fourth defence against Robin Krasniqi winning by unanimous decision at the Wembley Arena.

He lost his fifth attempt at defence of the title against Russian Sergey Kovalev on 17 August 2013 at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff. The fight was stopped 29 seconds into the 4th round in Kovalev's favour. Cleverly considered retiring after the bout, but decided not to.

Move up to Cruiserweight

Cleverly made his Cruiserweight debut on 17 May 2014, defeating Shawn Corbin by second-round technical knockout to win the vacant WBA Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title. Cleverly successfully defended the title against Alejandro Emilio Valori on 12 July 2014 via fourth-round technical knockout.

Cleverly vs. Bellew II

On November 22, 2014 Cleverly and Tony Bellew had their rematch , this time they were both fighting as Cruiserweights. The fight took place at the Echo Arena in Liverpool. This was also a WBO Cruiserweight Title Eliminator. The bout went 12 rounds as Bellew won via split decision (115-113, 116-112 & 114-115).

Back to Light Heavyweight

Cleverly moved back to light heavyweight following the loss to Bellew. His first fight back at his original weight was against Tomas Man (13-8, 8KOs) on May 30, 2015. Cleverly won via 1st round KO.

Cleverly vs. Fonfara

On October 16, 2015 Cleverly fought Polish former world title challenger Andrzej Fonfara at UIC Pavillion in Chicago. The contest went full 12 rounds and the judges scored the bout (115-113, 116-112 twice), all in favour of Fonfara. This was also for the WBC International Light Heavyweight title.

Professional boxing record

29 Wins (15 knockouts), 3 Losses, 0 Draws
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	29–3	Andrzej Fonfara	UD	12	16 October 2015	UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois	For WBC International Light Heavyweight title.
Win	29–2	Tomas Man	KO	1 (8), 0:24	30 May 2015	02 Arena, Greenwich, London
Loss	28–2	Tony Bellew	SD	12	22 November 2014	Echo Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	28–1	Alejandro Emilio Valori	TKO	4 (12), 1:16	12 July 2014	Echo Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside	Retained WBA Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title.
Win	27–1	Shawn Corbin	TKO	2 (12), 2:19	17 May 2014	Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff	Won vacant WBA Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title.
Loss	26–1	Sergey Kovalev	TKO	4 (12)	17 August 2013	Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff	Lost WBO Light Heavyweight title.
Win	26–0	Robin Krasniqi	UD	12	20 April 2013	Wembley Arena, London, Greater London	Retained WBO Light Heavyweight title.
Win	25–0	Shawn Hawk	TKO	8 (12), 1:53	10 November 2012	Staples Center, Los Angeles, California	Retained WBO Light Heavyweight title.
Win	24–0	Tommy Karpency	UD	12	25 February 2012	Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff	Retained WBO Light Heavyweight title.
Win	23–0	Tony Bellew	MD	12	15 October 2011	Echo Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside	Retained WBO Light Heavyweight title.
Win	22–0	Aleksy Kuziemski	TKO	4 (12), 1:27	21 May 2011	O2 Arena, Greenwich, London	Retained WBO Light Heavyweight title.
Win	21–0	Nadjib Mohammedi	UD	12	11 December 2010	Echo Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside	Won vacant interim WBO Light Heavyweight title.
Win	20–0	Karo Murat	RTD	9 (12), 3:00	18 September 2010	LG Arena, Birmingham, West Midlands	WBO Light Heavyweight title eliminator.
Win	19–0	Antonio Brancalion	TKO	5 (12), 1:15	13 February 2010	Wembley Arena, Wembley, London	Won vacant EBU Light Heavyweight title.
Win	18–0	Courtney Fry	TKO	8 (12), 2:51	9 October 2009	York Hall, Bethnal Green, London	Retained British and Commonwealth Light Heavyweight titles.
Win	17–0	Danny McIntosh	TKO	7 (12), 1:30	18 July 2009	York Hall, Bethnal Green, London	Retained Commonwealth Light Heavyweight title. Won vacant British Light Heavyweight title.
Win	16–0	Billy Boyle	TKO	2 (12), 2:22	22 May 2009	York Hall, Bethnal Green, London	Retained Commonwealth Light Heavyweight title.
Win	15–0	Samson Onyango	TKO	1 (12), 2:15	13 February 2009	Oasis Leisure Centre, Swindon, Wiltshire	Retained Commonwealth Light Heavyweight Title
Win	14–0	Douglas Otieno	TKO	4 (12), 2:39	12 December 2008	Kingsway Leisure Centre, Widnes, Cheshire	Retained Commonwealth Light Heavyweight title.
Win	13–0	Tony Oakey	UD	12	10 October 2008	Everton Park Sports Centre, Liverpool, Merseyside	Won vacant Commonwealth Light Heavyweight title.
Win	12–0	Antonio Baker	UD	8	19 April 2008	Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	11–0	Joey Vegas	PTS	8	3 November 2007	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Win	10–0	Ayitey Powers	KO	6 (8), 2:43	21 July 2007	International Arena, Cardiff
Win	9–0	Nick Okoth	PTS	8	7 April 2007	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Win	8–0	Varuzhan Davtyan	PTS	4	18 November 2006	Newport Leisure Centre, Newport
Win	7–0	Tony Quigley	TKO	5 (6), 0:57	14 October 2006	MEN Arena, Manchester
Win	6–0	Mark Phillips	PTS	4	8 July 2006	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Win	5–0	Brendan Halford	PTS	4	1 June 2006	Metrodome, Barnsley, Yorkshire
Win	4–0	Jon Foster	PTS	4	4 March 2006	M.E.N Arena, Manchester
Win	3–0	Lance Hall	TKO	3 (4), 2:27	4 December 2005	Oakengates Theatre, Telford, Shropshire
Win	2–0	Darren Gethin	PTS	4	10 September 2005	International Arena, Cardiff
Win	1–0	Ernie Smith	PTS	4	23 July 2005	Meadowbank Sports Centre, Edinburgh	Professional debut.

External links

• Professional boxing record for Nathan Cleverly from BoxRec

Preceded by Dean Francis Vacated	Commonwealth Light Heavyweight Champion 10 October 2008 – 12 March 2010 Vacated	Succeeded by Tony Bellew
	British Light Heavyweight Champion 18 July 2009 – 15 January 2011 Vacated
Vacant Title last held by Jürgen Brähmer	European Light Heavyweight Champion 13 February 2010 – 2010	Vacant Title next held by Danny McIntosh
	WBO Light Heavyweight Champion Interim Title 11 December 2010 – 19 May 2011	Promoted
Preceded by Jürgen Brähmer Stripped	WBO Light Heavyweight Champion 19 May 2011 – 17 August 2013	Succeeded by Sergey Kovalev