Nathan Cleverly may turn to American trainer Freddie Roach as hopes of world unification fight intensify

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/boxing/9670618/Nathan-Cleverly-may-turn-to-American-trainer-Freddie-Roach-as-hopes-of-world-unification-fight-intensify.html

Nathan Cleverly left his mark on the United States when he retained the World Boxing Organisation light-heavyweight title with an eighth-round stoppage of late replacement Shawn Hawk in Los Angeles.

The victory keeps the pressure on for a high-profile world unification contest in 2013. It also concluded a successful 10 days for the quiet, charismatic Welshman, whose profile was raised considerably at the home of the LA Lakers NBA team, helped in no small part by the presence near his corner of Sir Tom Jones, Vinnie Jones, and Mickey Rourke.
Although he is trained by his father, Vince, Cleverly might consider working with American trainer Freddie Roach, who would finesse his style.The 25-year-old mathematics graduate is not without his faults and showed the best and, at times, the worst of his skills in this contest.

However, Hawk, who stepped in at five days’ notice after Cleverly’s original opponent, Ryan Coyne, was embroiled in a contractual dispute with Don King, does not belong in the same class as the Welshman.
Cleverly put Hawk down three times and beat him to the punch time and again, yet he took unnecessarily heavy shots in much the same way he did against British rival Tony Bellew, in Liverpool, last year.
Cleverly normally likes to stand and fight at close quarters, but at times, he appears to press his opponents too much. He took a more measured approach as the fight against Hawk wore on and from the seventh round, he was able to hurt his opponent with body shots.

Hawk was knocked down twice in the seventh, then again in the eighth, with the referee stepping in to call a halt to the beating. It was the first time Hawk had been stopped in his 26-fight career.
“I like to take risks sometimes, so I get caught with punches, but this is boxing,” said Cleverly, who had not fought since earning a unanimous decision over Tommy Karpency in February.
Cleverly admitted to having revelled in a little stardust. “I enjoyed this, I enjoyed the atmosphere. He was a tough opponent, but eventually I broke him down.”

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Lets hope so hey


Regards

Steffan

I think Roach could potentially make him even more gung-ho

Roach is wrong for Clev.

Nathan needs to tighten up his defence and work on planting his feet better when he uses his power. Roach is not knownfor being a good defensive trainer. Manny Steward would have known what to do with him, but with him gone, not sure who would be best for Clev.

Exciting performance last night, though

Mind you Clev has the engine, speed, and chin for it (an aggressive, leave themselves open sort of style) but doesn't have the power for it.

Any trainer must be better than his dad though

Apparently Freddie really likes Clev.

Its a good move no doubt about it, but Roach has singled out his lack of punching power as an issue he would have to work on.

Great news if it happens but I worry about British fighters just discarding British trainers who themselves need to develop.

I agree with you Sean in that he probably does need to tighten up his defence but so far it seems he does have a fairly decent chin. I think a lot of the shots he gets caught with he does not because of a poor defence but as has been said because he is quite gung ho.

This is why I want to see him in with better opposition because he would not be able to take the same risks as he has and we would get to see if he had the boxing brain.

In a way if he has the chin at the top level then Roach could actually be a great fit because what he would is get Cleverely to learn what shot to throw when and to sit on his punches more.

There is no doubting that he is talented and he does provide excitement in the ring. I just can't take many of these farcical fights any longer...I hope he either grows a set and tells Warren to get him a name and not complete stiffs or at least has a spark of intelligence and leaves the ol Frank Warren completely.

owen10ozzy wrote:I agree with you Sean in that he probably does need to tighten up his defence but so far it seems he does have a fairly decent chin. I think a lot of the shots he gets caught with he does not because of a poor defence but as has been said because he is quite gung ho.

This is why I want to see him in with better opposition because he would not be able to take the same risks as he has and we would get to see if he had the boxing brain.

In a way if he has the chin at the top level then Roach could actually be a great fit because what he would is get Cleverely to learn what shot to throw when and to sit on his punches more.

There is no doubting that he is talented and he does provide excitement in the ring. I just can't take many of these farcical fights any longer...I hope he either grows a set and tells Warren to get him a name and not complete stiffs or at least has a spark of intelligence and leaves the ol Frank Warren completely.

My biggest concern with Clev is that he has gotten used to eating shots and trading on his excellent chin. A top operator will wipe him out if he keeps that up

Yep spot on Sean...

That's the problem with the matchmaking he has had...the time to move up the operating ladder is quickly coming to an end..

For the past 18 months he should of been facing off with the fringe world level operators who could give us an indication of how he would face up when stepping right up to the elite...

Instead he has fought stiffs who have shown us nothing and allowed him to continue & further his bad habits in the ring.

The problem he may well find is that he has missed the boat now and will be forced to go from Euro/Very low World level straight into the top tier without any middle ground experience!

he should go for it, no point sitting at home nursing your title gifted to him without fighting and earning little respect in from his countrymen. frank wont let him fight anybody, but if he was with freddie then the limelight would be on him and he would have to up then standard of opponents. maybe cleverly isnt true world class, but freddie would make him more effective at what he does best, which is get up close and grind you down and give him the best chance of becoming the next big thing. it worked for khan....

also khan complained about freddy not havent enough time for him, his dad could fill the gaps, become sort of a side trainer like manny has (the fat phillipino guy)

Cleverly needs someone to teach him defense...Not sure Roach is the one for him though.

nathan is never going to be a defensive fighter, sure he could do with it tightening up a little, but he will always (in my eyes) be more successful as a come forward pressure fighter, and roach would be the best way for him.

I would consider it to be an excellent step in his career, and it could work out well if his trainer/dad also makes the move.

As already mentioned, his dad can fill the gaps when Roach is busy with another fighter and could also learn from Roach. His dad being around could also help him resisting the temptation that living in LA would present.

One of the most important and beneficial aspects of relocating would obviously be the top class sparring available at the wildcard gym, with Vegas being a relatively short journey for other sparring options.

I think we will have to 'watch this space' though as his promoter is as eager as ever to keep him on track to greatness, with comments in his column including "if it ain't broke then don't fix it" of his current progress and training regime.

I agree that it can't be a bad thing, after all his dad isn't really a trainer whereas Roach (who has his flaws like anyone) is a world class trainer and offers him top class sparring like aja424 said. He may not have made khan the finished product but being able to spar fighters like pacquiao can only help. Kayode, the guy clev sparred, is probably a better fighter than anything Clev's fought so far

You have to admit, if you was in his shoes you would. A chance in a lifetime and as Dom Ingle said the other week when commenting on his conversations with Brook, something along the lines of "you will only get one go at this and give it your best".

Although when holidaying in Wales a couple of weeks ago, I have to say there can be no better place for an early morning bit of road work( not that I did any by the way, just noticed whilst driving).

I don't think he'll be sparring Pacquiao