Nathan Cleverly on Murat Win; Bellew's View of Cleverly
By Terence Dooley
Nathan Cleverly produced a mammoth effort in the Magnificent Seven's fight of the night to wrench away Karo Murat's '0' and line himself up for a shot at the WBO light-heavyweight title. The belt could be declared vacant if Juergen Braehmer is unable to defend against Cleverly due to the German's legal problems; however, promoter Frank Warren is confident that he can bring Braehmer over to London for his December 11th Excel Arena bill should the title holder successfully appeal against his assault conviction.
Cleverly (173¾lb) went toe-to-toe with his Germany-based foe at the LG Arena, Birmingham on Saturday night, both men giving and taking meaty shots throughout the scheduled twelve rounder. Nathan, though, was on-top throughout, his shots were delivered with venom, accuracy and power, the European champion managing to up his output whenever Karo, now 22-1 (13), came on strong.
Nathan started brightly, hammering Karo's right ear with left hooks in the first two rounds before whipping home right uppercuts through the peek-a-boo guard of the WBO Inter-Continental champion. Murat landed a right uppercut to the body in the second and forced Nathan to stand and engage often during the early going. Each man doing his bit to make it a memorable one for the fans going into the midway point, where Cleverly, though hit once too often for his corner's liking, took a muscular hold on the destiny of the bout.
The Iraq-born Murat (173½lb), his Armenian parents escaped to Germany during the first Gulf War, took a solid left hook to the head in the ninth and spat his gum-shield out at one point to buy himself time. Despite landing a few shots through Cleverly's gaps in this session, including a pair of clubbing hooks, Karo looked a rapidly fading force. His nose had been split earlier in the fight and the 27-year-old was taking too many flush punches, prompting the ringside doctor to advise referee Mark Nelson – who had brought the doctor's attention to Murat's bloody right ear in round two – to call a halt to proceedings at the start of round ten.
Murat was facing a shut-out on two of the cards, he didn't have the power to KO Cleverly and would have taken unnecessary punishment had the fight continued; the former European super-middleweight champion was proving a victim of his own desire and the stoppage was merciful, it was also well-timed.
Murat's coach, Ulli Wegner, complained about the decision, yet Murat's desire and strong chin coupled with Cleverly's greater all-round ability and accuracy had set up an 'immovable object, irresistible force' scenario that would have led to the visitor accruing more punishment had the fight continued.
Cleverly's win was underpinned by grit and determination, it secures him a shot at the WBO 175lb title. However, there was one critical voice in the crowd. “Where was the jab and movement? He couldn't get away with fighting like that against me,” declared British rival Tony Bellew when appraising Cleverly's TKO win. Cleverly, though, laughed off claims that he'd made the fight a bit too difficult for himself.
“I could have made it easier but that is boring,” smiled Cleverly when speaking about the fight. “That is why I had all those fans standing up and cheering at the end. I had a game plan on how to beat Murat. He is a strong fighter who is used to people jabbing and moving so I told my dad [Vince] what I was going to do and told people I'd break this guy down. I knocked the fight out off him and it went to plan.
“I got caught with a few shots. I felt his power early and knew he wouldn't knock me out or shake me up so I took a few risks, which made it more exciting, but I knew what I was doing. I felt in control throughout the fight. I'm happy with the performance and the result.”
Nathan, however, could find himself in a bind if he continues in this vein. Saturday's win was a rousing affair, the type of fight that will bring in casual fans. When Nathan steps up he will need to use his nous, too many battles of this type could forge a bruising mentality, which makes it that bit more difficult to bring scientific boxing to the fore when it is required. Ricky Hatton and Carl Froch had all-action, crowd-pleasing styles on the way up then found it hard to get their undoubted boxing brains going in the fights that mattered. Cleverly will have to avoid falling into this trap.
In mitigation, Cleverly recently concluded his University studies and is now a full-time fighter, his recent successes came against the backdrop of a Pure Mathematics degree; the Cefn Fforest-born boxer believes that he now has the time to give every aspect of boxing his full attention and that he will move through the levels in coming fights. With the Murat victory the first instalment of his single-minded commitment to the sport.
“I can go up another level now. I said people would see another improvement from me and they saw glimpses tonight. There is room for more improvement but he was an undefeated guy so it was interesting. But there was no way he was going to beat me tonight,” declared Nathan, who has won British, Commonwealth and European titles in just under two years.
Arthur Abraham was at ringside to cheer Murat on, the Armenian-born, Germany-based super-middleweight compared Cleverly to Joe Calzaghe. A compliment that was shrugged off by the fighter himself, he feels that he is one of a kind and wants to prove this by forging his own reputation.
“I'm the first Nathan Cleverly not the next Joe Calzaghe – I will make my own legacy. But the similarity will be there because I will go through my career unbeaten, just like Joe did. I'm 23 and still have to come to terms with what I’ve achieved, it has happened so quickly and I've got a world title shot coming up. It is incredible and the next eighteen months will see me get the WBO title,” mused the 20-0 (10) contender.
“I can go on, unify the division and beat Chad Dawson and Jean Pascal,” concluded Cleverly, he then fleshed out the Calzaghe comparison by declaring himself willing and able to take on either Bernard Hopkins, Pascal's next opponent, or Roy Jones – both men were defeated on points by Joe during his brief 175lb stint.
Meanwhile, British fans hope that Cleverly's quest will include a domestic dust-up between the Welshman and Liverpool's Tony Bellew. Despite his critical appraisal of the Murat win, Bellew feels that Cleverly's continued rise could help him define his own career.
“I've got an awful lot of respect for him,” admitted the 27-year-old. “I know what he does well and what he doesn't do well. I study all his fights because a fight between us could be on one day. I know he's got good variety on his punches but show me one fight where he shows he can fight going backwards, he can't.”
Indeed, Bellew believes that Saturday's mistakes were there in Cleverly's title wins over Tony Oakey, Danny McIntosh and Antonio Brancalion; the 13-0 (9) puncher feels that Cleverly cannot adjust his style. Good news for Bellew if proven to be true.
“He's 6' 2'' and fought a 5' 8'' Tony Oakey head on. Same with Danny McIntosh, who is a puncher. You need to negate those guys and get them on the jab but he went straight in with him. If he fought me the way he fought Oakey or any recent guys then the fight is over in a round or two rounds. Trading punches with me is different to trading against these guys,” blasted Bellew.
“I want him to win every fight so he's unbeaten when I get my hands on him and still known as the next Joe Calzaghe. I'm far from the finished article, and I believe he is not the finished article, but you cannot change his temperament or the way he fights – he'll always want to fight you, he'll never run, and all this is stacked in my favour. No one will out-fight or out-punch me at this weight, it is impossible,” stressed 'Bomber', he fights Bob Ajisafe on Friday's Frank Warren-promoted DEBRA charity bill at the Hilton Hotel in London.
Bellew will be back before Friday to assess his upcoming fight.
Sky Sports HD1 televise Friday's fight from 10pm.
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