British Scene: World Class Cleverly Wins Again - Macklin Reclaims Euro Belt

Dave Oakes recaps this past weekend's British boxing action.

The most impressive performance of the Magnificent Seven show belonged to Nathan Cleverly, who showed he belongs in world class with an impressive victory over Karo Murat.

Cleverly, clearly riled by some of Murat’s pre-fight comments, attacked the unbeaten German from the first bell. The Welshman landed some hefty hooks and uppercuts in the first three rounds, surprising Murat with how aggressive he was and how strong he was on the inside.

Despite the impressive start, Cleverly hadn’t discouraged Murat from marching forward, and by the end of the fourth it looked like Cleverly might’ve adopted the wrong tactics as Murat gained a foothold in the fight by landing several solid hooks.

Cleverly could’ve made life much easier for himself by boxing at range, he was the quicker and far superior boxer and could’ve controlled Murat with the jab before stepping in with the heavier shots. He obviously wanted to prove a point to Murat though, and continued with his pugilistic gun-slinging.

The fifth and sixth rounds were give and take, although it was Cleverly who was doing enough to give him the edge. The pace slowed in the seventh as both fighters looked to be tiring. Cleverly was still being the boss and the slower pace suited him more than it did Murat who was made to look sluggish and one-dimensional.

A head clash early in the eighth opened up a cut across the bridge of Murat’s nose, which was immediately made worse when the pair exchanged hurtful left hooks. Murat was looking increasingly dishevelled and weary whilst Cleverly had upped his work rate again and finished the round with a beautiful straight right – right uppercut combination that would’ve floored most fighters.

I felt the end was coming at the end of the eighth when Murat slowly made his way back to his corner at the bell; he slumped down on his stool, looking not only exhausted but mentally beaten.

Murat came out for the ninth and tried his best to find a punch that would turn the fight around but it wasn’t meant to be. Cleverly matched him for aggression and landed more crunching blows, the best of which was a straight right that sent sweat spraying from Murat’s head.

The fight was waved off at the end of the round, the doctor instructing the referee that he thought Murat wasn’t fit to continue. It was a good decision in my opinion, Murat wasn’t going to win the fight, he was exhausted and was becoming increasingly easy to hit as he walked forward with his hands held high but not tight enough to stop a number of juddering punches finding his chin.

Like I said earlier, Cleverly could’ve made his night easier by using his skills, but he gained a lot of new fans by taking it to Murat in such an entertaining fight. He showed he’s willing to battle his way through fights and can dig deep when he needs to. It was an impressive performance and one which convinces me he’s ready for a world title tilt.

He’s most likely to fight Juergen Braehmer for the WBO title next and I believe that he should be viewed the favourite when they meet. Braehmer is good but he’s not unbeatable, as Hugo Garay proved a couple of years ago. Cleverly will have height, reach, age and speed advantages over him and I feel the belt is there for his taking.

Matthew Macklin regained the European middleweight title, stopping a tough but out of his depth Shalva Jomardashvili at the start of the sixth round. Macklin was never in any sort of trouble as he dominated the Georgian throughout five one-sided rounds.

Jomardashvili tried to come forward but Macklin used his experience to pick him off and outmanoeuvre him, his left hook to the body and head working well to discourage Jomardashvili.

The fifth round saw the Georgian trying desperately to make an impact on Macklin, he landed a hard overhand right early and attacked with a cluster of hooks, one of which landed, but he was met with a considerably harder left hook by Macklin that seemed to rock him. Macklin finished the round strongly, hurting Jomardashvili with a body shot.

There was a bit of a commotion in Jomardashvili’s corner at the end of the round before the bout was officially halted as the bell for the beginning of the sixth sounded.

Macklin is now unbeaten in his last ten fight and is rapidly closing in on a world title shot. He’s ranked in the top ten by all four major governing bodies but seems to be favouring a clash with IBF champion Sebastian Sylvester.

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