Joe Calzaghe Will Help Nathan Cleverly Bounce Back

By Edward Chaykovsky

Hall of Famer Joe Calzaghe has promised to help his close friend, Nathan Cleverly (28-2, 14KOs), get his career back in order. After getting knocked out last year by Sergey Kovalev, Cleverly made a decision to move up by 25-pounds to the cruiserweight division.

Cleverly won two fights in a row and then he was beaten by way of split decision in a November WBO eliminator with rival Tony Bellew, who avenged his earlier loss to the Welsh boxer. Afterwards, Cleverly admitted he was too small for the weight and required a return to 175 if he planned to continue his career.

“I’ll definitely be involved with Nathan, although I am not saying I will train him full time,” said Calzaghe to Wales Online. “I’ll help him out as much as I can because he is a friend of mine and I am sure he still has other things in the sport he needs to achieve. He has always been a talented fighter but perhaps is at the wrong weight.

“He needs to come back down a weight, go back to the basics and become the fighter he was. He’s still young. I was not at my peak until my 30s so there is plenty of time. I have not yet had a proper chance to sit down with him to see where his head is. But if he wants it enough he can come back because he is a fighter.”