World Boxing News 2010-2013

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Phil D. Jay  WBN Editor Warren claims purse bid for WBO mandatory bout Light-heavyweight world champion Nathan Cleverly will have home advantage for his next defence of the WBO title after promoter Frank Warren won the purse bid for his mandatory clash with Robin Krasniqi next year. The pair are set to meet on March 16 at a venue in the UK following Warren’s success in gaining the rights to stage the bout - which will take place almost a year after the two were originally scheduled to face-off. Cleverly, 25, pulled out of their April 28th headliner at the Royal Albert Hall through illness weeks before the fight and was ordered by the WBO the rearrange Krasniqi’s title chance as the Welshman pursued a high-profile fight with Bernard Hopkins. Former pound for pound star Hopkins is now hoping to be given the all clear by the IBF to challenge their champion Tavoris Cloud on March 9 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. That leaves Cleverly free to deal with his ob...

Phil D. Jay  WBN Editor Welshman defends title to score twelfth stoppage Nathan Cleverly took apart late replacement Shawn Hawk in eight rounds with some crunching body shots to make a successful fourth defence of his WBO light-heavyweight title in Los Angeles. The 25 year-old, who was originally scheduled to fight southpaw Ryan Coyne, easily dealt with Hawk’s defensive orthodox style and was clearly in a different league as he won every round for the duration. The Cardiff-based stylist showed slick skills and a volume of punches that compatriot Joe Calzaghe would have been proud of, before wearing Hawk down from the fifth, to eventually put him down in the seventh with some wicked shots downstairs. Hawk, 28, only just made the count from the first knockdown, but would go down a further three times before referee Tony Crebs and the Native American’s corner stepped in to end the challenger's pain. Cleverly could now move on to a fifth defence against Ameri...

Nathan Cleverly v Shawn Hawk WBO light-heavyweight title Staples Center, California, USA 12x3                                                                                                    Cleverly                               Hawk              -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------                  Round 1                       10                                 9     ...

Nathan Cleverly is out to conquer America this weekend after running out of opponents back home. The unbeaten maths wizard risks his WBO World Light-Heavyweight crown on Saturday against American Shawn Hawk at the Staples Center, Los Angeles. Few in Britain come close to Cleverly, he outclassed his biggest rival Tony Bellew 13 months ago in the second defence of his title that proved he has outgrown any domestic challengers. Cleverly who has won all 24 fights said: "It was going great in the UK but there were no other challenges left after I wiped the floor with Bellew. “I needed to spice things up in my career and fighting in America is the way forward for me.” It’s proved an impossible task getting big names to travel to Britain to challenge Cleverly, who has been harshly slammed by keyboard warriors over some opponents he’s faced. But he’ll be on the brink of huge unification fights against men like IBF Champion Tavoris Cloud, WBC title holder Ch...

Ryan Coyne The past week has been the most difficult of my boxing career, and probably more accurately a microcosm of the frustrations I have endured over the past year and a half of my career. It is with great regret that I can confirm that my title challenge for the WBO Light heavyweight championship against Nathan Cleverly will not happen on Nov. 10th due to circumstances out of my control. First and foremost I want to apologize to the fans and acknowledge the hard work of the parties involved. Frank Warren and matchmaker Dean Powell were great to work with throughout all of this. They presented my management with a once in a lifetime unique opportunity to fight Nathan Cleverly, who is a classy champion, on Showtime in America. Working with them was a breath of fresh air. A true professional outfit. My managers worked very hard to get me fighting while my former promoter left my career to die on the vine. When I was offered the chance to fight Nathan for the title I jump...

Phil D. Jay  WBN Editor American admits fight will go ahead without him Ryan Coyne has admitted defeat in his attempts to block former promoter Don King from his legal bid to halt his proposed WBO light-heavyweight title fight with Nathan Cleverly. The fight was originally announced earlier this month for November 10, although a contract dispute between Coyne and King quickly emerged and has now ultimately ended any hopes the ‘Irish Outlaw’ had of his first world title challenge, to his dismay. "Much as I hate to say it, this fight will not be going forward with myself involved in it," Coyne told BBC Wales. "This is the biggest disappointment of my career. I trained very, very diligently for this fight and I was devastated when I got the news. "I want to apologise to the fans in the United Kingdom and the United States that this fight won't be going ahead, but hopefully we can get it on at a later date. "We just have to let the ...

Phil D. Jay  WBN Editor Father says belt in no danger Contrary to reports, Nathan Cleverly does not have to face Robin Krasniqi in his very next bout and could have a ten-round non-title outing at the very least when the Welshman fights in the US in two weeks time, according to his father and trainer Vince. Cleverly, who currently holds the WBO light-heavyweight title, has to face mandatory challenger Krasniqi in the near future and there have been some worries that the 25 year-old could be stripped of his belt. This is unlikely to be the case says Vince, who believes that his son will have the leeway to either defend his title against another opponent or fight on November 10 without putting his title on the line. “Although we don’t have official confirmation of what is happening with our opponent, I do know that Nathan will not lose his title,” Vince clarified to World Boxing News. “He will at the worse just have a ten round non-title fight and then move ...

Phil D. Jay  WBN Editor ‘Irish Outlaw’ opens up to WBN Undefeated light-heavyweight contender Ryan Coyne has exclusively revealed to WBN that his fight with WBO title holder Nathan Cleverly is highly unlikely to happen due to action taken by his ex-promoter Don King. The 30 year-old southpaw has been announced as the Welshman’s fourth title defence for the last few weeks, but has now revealed that his one-time promote King is threatening legal action towards the fight agreement. The contest was pencilled in on the undercard of Golden Boy’s massive headline card featuring Abner Mares and Anselmo Moreno and Coyne is distraught that the opportunity may have now been taken away from him. “I am sorry to toss a monkey wrench in things, but my fight with Nathan Cleverly is not going to happen,” Coyne told World Boxing News. “This is purely because of the spite of an evil zealot named Don King. “I personally am 100% ready to go forward with this fight and...

Phil D. Jay  WBN Editor Picture by Andrew Snook Boxing legend open to WBO title challenge at 175 Former undisputed pound for pound king Roy Jones Jr. has indicated that a possible WBO light-heavyweight title bout against Nathan Cleverly in the UK would be of interest to him. The 43 year-old has won his last two bouts at weights of 193 and 183lbs and had been expected to pursue a shot at cruiserweight world champion Krzystof Wlodarczyk after winning his last fight in Poland.  A fight in the UK remains one of the American's ambitions though and Cleverly would be an attractive option as he comes with a version of the world title that Jones so desperately craves. “I’m still hoping to come to England and perform one time before I retire,” Jones stated according to The South Wales Argus. “If anybody out there wants to come up to the cruiserweight division and thinks they want some or even if Nathan Cleverly wants me to come to 175lbs and take his belt, I mig...

Phil D. Jay  WBN Editor World champion set for stint at 200lbs Nathan Cleverly is eyeing up a potential move up to cruiserweight in the next couple of years as the current WBO light-heavyweight attempts to unify his current division before moving up to 200lbs. Reports of a move to heavyweight are premature though according to Cleverly’s father and trainer Vince, who told WBN that the top division could be an option in the future, but is likely to be years down the line. “We have spoken about maybe trying heavyweight, but not for a good few years yet,” Vince told World Boxing News. “It would be an option that we would look at but Nathan is still eighteen months away from cruiserweight and would have a few more years filling into that weight. “We have just got to see how things go and at present are taking things one fight at a time.” Cleverly, 25, is currently negotiating with WBA title holder Beibut Shumenov about a possible fight in Las Vegas later thi...

Phil D. Jay  WBN Editor Father says there was no chance of all-Welsh battle According to his father, WBO light-heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly is currently in negotiations with WBA title holder Beibut Shumenov amongst others, as the Welshman looks to extend his unbeaten record in 2012. The 25 year-old was linked to an all-Welsh world title fight against Enzo Maccarinelli as the former world cruiserweight champion moved down to 175lbs, but Vince, who also trains his son, has poured scorn on the fight ever being on the table. “There was no chance of the fight happening,” Vince told World Boxing News. “It was just a publicity stunt to keep an interest in Welsh boxing. “Negotiations are going ahead between Nathan and the Shumenov camp about the unification fight and also with other boxers as well. I can’t see no reason why the fight between those two can’t happen in Las Vegas this year though provided a deal can be struck soon.” Shumenov, 28, has expressed...

Phil D. Jay  WBN Editor WBA champion remains focused on unification US-based world title holder Beibut Shumenov is not ruling any of the top fighters out as the WBA light-heavyweight champion seeks a money-spinney bout on one of America’s biggest networks in 2012. The 28 year-old, who captured the title in just his tenth fight, has consistently expressed his desire to fight one of the other champions at 175lbs and told WBN that rival and WBO belt holder Nathan Cleverly is interested in travelling to Las Vegas for a unification. “It doesn't really matter to me who I face. I would just love the opportunity to fight on HBO or Showtime so I will fight whoever,” Shumenov told World Boxing News. “There is a big fight between Chad Dawson and Andre Ward happening at 168, I wouldn't drop down in weight but I would fight the winner at 175. “Also, Frank Warren’s matchmaker has informed Mr Chargin (Don, Shumenov’s adviser) that they are willing to come to Las Vegas...

Phil D. Jay  WBN Editor Welshman defends opponent in shutout win Nathan Cleverly came through his third world title defence with relative ease tonight, taking a landslide points win over American Tommy Karpency and immediately defended the choice of opponent for the Cardiff bout. The Cefn Forest man jumped to champion the challenger in the wake of scepticism over the fighter ranked number eleven by the WBO and stated in a TV interview after the fight that the southpaw hits deceptively hard. “It was a good workout. Tommy is very tough,” Cleverly told BoxNation’s John Rawling after the fight. “In all fairness, a lot of people have been criticizing Tommy Karpency coming into the fight and been very cynical saying he shouldn’t be in the ring with me. “Let me tell you that out of everybody I have fought, he has hit the hardest out of all the light-heavyweights I have fought. I have fought some big punchers and he hits harder than them!” Cleverly, 25, improved ...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor Welshman makes another defence WBO light-heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly made the third successful defence of his title against an out-of-depth Tommy Karpency in his first fight on Welsh soil for over four years. The 25 year-old won every round of the one-sided bout in front of an adoring crowd at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff in what was more like a twelve round spar rather than a world title fight. Karpency, 26, never made any impression on the Cefn Forest fighter as he trotted backwards for the duration of the fight, trying to avoid any damaging punches from Cleverly and succeeded in his quest as he fell to a 120-108 defeat on all three cards. Cleverly may now be in line for a huge unification fight in the US after addressing the Wales crowd post-fight and hinting that America maybe his next destination as he attempts to lure another of the world champions into a contest.

Nathan Cleverly v Tommy Karpency ( WBO light-heavyweight title ) Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, UK 12x3                                                                                                             Cleverly                      Karpency              -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------                  Round 1                        10                                  9 ...

Phil D. Jay  WBN Editor Welshman never contemplated pulling out of WBO defence World light-heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly has revealed that an injury to his ribs suffered in sparring hampered his performance against arch-rival Tony Bellew last Saturday and if targeted, could have cost him his WBO belt. The 24 year-old, who came through the rugged Scouser on a majority decision at the Echo Arena, revealed the injury to fledging boxing channel BoxNation and admitted that he took a gamble with his world title status on the night. “We had top keep it majorly quiet,” explained the Cefn Forest fighter. “I did it when I was training in London two weeks before the fight. I did six rounds with George Groves and then another six with Chris Eubanks’ boy and in the 11th he caught me on the back and cracked a rib. “I finished off the 12 rounds and didn’t show any pain, but I had a week of sparring back home planned with Sam Sexton, a heavyweight, which I had to ...

Nathan Cleverly v Tony Bellew ( WBO light-heavyweight title ) Echo Arena, Liverpool, UK 12x3                                                                               Cleverly                        Bellew              -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------                  Round 1                          10                                  9              --------------------------------------------------...

(Picture by Kris Agland) Nathan Cleverly  22-0 (11 KO's) is preparing for the fight of his life when he meets bitter rival  Tony Bellew  16-0 (10) in Liverpool tonight. The WBO World Light-Heavyweight champion is fully focussed on overcoming challenger Bellew in front of the scouser's home crowd at Liverpool's Echo Arena, LIVE and exclusive on  BoxNation  (Sky Platform Ch. 456). Cleverly and Bellew were set to meet last May, the Wavertree fighter was a late replacement for Juergen Braehmer at the O2 event but was unable to make the weight in time. A fiery exchange at the press conference between the two made the fight inevitable. Bellew out-boxed Ovill McKenzie in his last outing which set up the mouth-watering showdown, there have been a number of dramatic moments leading up to the fight including last month's press conference in Cardiff when police were called to break it up. Cleverly says he is preparing for the toughest fight of his career, "I...

Phil D. Jay  WBN Editor Challenger confident ahead of grudge match British and Commonwealth light-heavyweight champion Tony Bellew is not mincing his words ahead his defining world title challenge against WBC champion Nathan Cleverly on home soil this Saturday night. The 28 year-old, who is unbeaten in sixteen bouts with ten knockouts, is looking forward to settling the score with the Welshman once and for all and has vowed to dethrone the mathematics graduate, before offering him alternative employment. “Come Saturday night, I will look at him, tell him I am going to smash his face in and then go and do it,” Bellew told The Daily Mail. “He is going to be retired on Sunday and after the fight I will shake his hand. “I will ask him if he wants to put his maths to use and become my accountant.” The brash Scouser claimed the Commonwealth title in March last year with a spectacular first round stoppage win over the Ghanaian Atoli Moore and has since defen...