Froch: If Cleverly Beats Braehmer, He's at World Level

By Chris LaBate

WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch is not even thinking about a possible fight with countryman Nathan Cleverly - until the Welsh boxer is able to become a world class fighter. He feels Cleverly is still a "domestic level" boxer. Cleverly faces Juergen Braehmer for the WBO light heavyweight title on May 21 at London’s O2 Arena. Cleverly stated recently that he would like a showdown with Froch in the near future. If Cleverly is able to beat Braehmer, Froch would regard him as "world level" boxer and only then would he consider a possible fight.

“To be fair to Cleverly, I thought he did a good job in beating Danny McIntosh for the British and Commonwealth title in 2009,” said Froch to Daily Express. “It was a decent performance against a fighter I know can punch because I have sparred with Danny. That was a good display, but really he is stepping up into world class now. From what I have seen of Braehmer, he is a tough fighter, so we are about to find out what Cleverly is all about. At the moment I would say he is still at domestic level but, if he beats Braehmer, he will definitely go up another notch. He certainly didn’t impress me that much but, if he gets the nod over Braehmer, he will have a genuine world-class opponent on his record.”