By Terence Dooley
Eddie Hearn and Matchroom have formally announced that Nathan Cleverly will feature on their May 17th bill at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena. The 26-1 (12) Welshman appeared alongside Hearn at today’s press conference for the show and will be joined on the bill by Andy Lee, 31-2 (22).
News of Cleverly’s appearance seeped out earlier today. Frank Warren promoted Cleverly from his 2005 professional debut through to British, Commonwealth, European and the WBO world light-heavyweight title, and his office has informed BoxingScene that Cleverly remains under contract despite Cleverly and Hearn's insistence that this will be the first fight of a new deal with Matchroom.
The 27-year-old was brushed aside in four rounds by Sergey Kovalev at the same venue last August and has been inactive since losing his undefeated record. The Pure Mathematics graduate has stated that he intends to operate at cruiserweight, which is likely to set-up a showdown with domestic rival Tony Bellew later this year.
Bellew stopped Valery Brudov in the 12th round in his cruiserweight debut earlier this month and immediately called for Cleverly, who handed Bellew a majority decision defeat at Liverpool’s ECHO Arena in October 2011.
A win for Cleverly in May could set the rematch in motion as both British boxers bid to overcome their recent world title woes.
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