Nathan Cleverly Ponders Dropping Back To 175-Pounds

By Edward Chaykovsky

Former champion Nathan Cleverly (28-2, 14KOs) is considering the possibility of dropping back to the light heavyweight division after last Saturday's split decision loss to heated rival Tony Bellew at cruiserweight. They faced each other in 2011, at light heavyweight, with Cleverly winning a close twelve round majority decision.

Cleverly made a decision to move up by 25-pounds last year, after getting knocked out in four rounds by Russia's Sergey Kovalev. He now admits the weight is too much to carry and a move to 175 might be the better move.

"It's hard at this weight. Bellew's a heavyweight as an amateur coming down so he's naturally the bigger guy," Cleverly told BBC Radio Wales Sport. "I'm trying to pump into the cruiserweight division, but it comes at a cost. The cost is I'm giving away a lot of my assets, which is my stamina. The speed is OK but it does tend to slow you down generally."

"It worked early on when I was fresh but then trying to work at that output, carry that speed through the 12 rounds at cruiserweight, you pay the price in the later rounds. It's the first time I've done 12 rounds at cruiserweight. I've only been two rounds and four rounds in my previous fights so I'd never experienced the later rounds. I've got to sort out, get a clear mind, make sure what weight I'm going to fight at - if it's going to be light-heavy do it properly - and give it a blast again."