After losing two out of his last three fights, it was a bit of a surprise to hear that Nathan Cleverly?s next fight would be for a world title.
On 1st October Cleverly will finally get the chance to take on the WBA regular light-heavyweight champion Juergen Brahmer, in Germany.
The duo were supposed to fight back in 2011 but an eye injury forced Brahmer to withdraw.
Since then the two fighter?s careers have followed different paths.
Brahmer?s defence against the Welsh fighter will be his seventh defence of his crown whilst Cleverly, who lost his world title to Sergey Kovalev in 2013, has suffered three defeats in his last six bouts.
However, the Welsh fighter remains confident he will win the fight but recognises it is a fight he must win, failure could see his career ended.
Talking about the fight, Cleverly has had this to say to the media,
‘This is a must-win for me – I’m confident I can upset the champion.
‘I believe this is my opportunity to turn things around.
I knew the world title opportunity would come back around.
‘Sometimes you hit those plateaus – you peak and then have a bit of a flat period. But I think I’ve got through that and the best is yet to come.’
And on finally getting to fight Brahmer, Cleverly added,
‘We were meant to fight three times in the past but he never fancied the challenge when I was at the peak of my game and had a lot of hunger and fire.
‘Maybe he’s taken the fight now thinking I’ve had a quiet couple of years and gone off the boil.
‘Maybe he’s thinking this is his opportunity to beat me but, as I showed in my last fight, the fire is coming back.
‘I’m looking to become a two-time champion and I’m going to grab it with both hands.
‘It’s notoriously difficult for boxers in Germany against the home fighters, but I’m confident that I’m not just going to win, I’m going to win emphatically and take it out of everyone’s hands.’
It?s a tall order, can Cleverly regain his world champion status on foreign soil?
I?d like to think he can, how about you?
Cleverly Looking Forward to Brahmer Fight
