? Nathan Cleverly in line for a shot at the WBO title
? James DeGale also a winner at Magnificent Seven
For lovers of sanctioned violence, Nathan Cleverly set the standard on a night of rolling cuts and bruises at the LG Arena by stopping the unbeaten Karo Murat after nine rounds to put himself in line for a shot at the WBO light-heavyweight title.
The slug-fest Frank Warren sold in Birmingham as "The Magnificent Seven" provided more fun than your average riot and, at the centre of the mayhem, was the clever young maths graduate from Wales who knows more angles than Pythagoras. He bombed Murat with so many head-jolters that the referee Mark Nelson refused to let the Armenian come out for the 10th, the official stoppage point.
On a night when another Welshman, Enzo Maccarinelli, suffered excessive punishment, Cleverly kept up a phenomenal workrate against a plodding but accomplished opponent and, although occasionally reckless, looked world class.
He has yet to learn how to pace himself at this level ? the 27-year-old Murat was, by some way, his toughest assignment, having stopped 13 of 22 opponents in a professional career that only started four years ago ? but you could not fault his commitment, speed or ring craft.
Two of the judges gave every round to Cleverly; Murat convinced the third official he was worth one session ? but that does not tell the story of a gruelling fight in which several rounds were close.
Nelson called the doctor to Murat's corner after round two, aware that there was blood coming from one of his ears. By the end of the ninth, and after four more medical inspections, he adjudged he had taken enough punishment.
Murat, as tough by inclination as by background (his Armenian parents fled persecution in Iraq for Bavaria during the first Bush war), looked as if he'd had enough. To drain the fight from someone of Murat's pedigree was some performance.
Now Cleverly must steel himself for an examination at the highest level against another German-based fighter, the WBO champion J�rgen Br�hmer ? who beat Ricky Hatton as an amateur but has grown in weight by more conventional methods than the troubled Mancunian.
Arthur Abraham, who was ringside to support Murat, said of Cleverly: "He's a very tough fighter, a mini-Calzaghe." Abraham also expressed frustration about the postponement of his fight with Carl Froch, who pulled out of their upcoming Super Six fight with a back injury during the week. "I think it's a mental problem," he said.
He did concede Froch's hard 12-rounder against Mikkel Kessler (who has since pulled out with eye problems) might have taken something out of him.
The Armenian-German admitted the Showtime tournament was troubled, but it was up to the boxers to make sure they stayed in the tournament.
Michael Jennings would beat most welterweights in the country, but not Kell Brook. He was stopped 47 seconds into round five but, in truth, the bout was heading in one direction, and that was in favour of the Sheffield fighter, unbeaten still and living up to the outrageous comparisons with his hero Naseem Hamed, who looked content in retirement at ringside. Brook now has the WBO inter-continental title, a trinket but also a bargaining chip for bigger prizes.
James DeGale kicked off the evening in brilliant style by stopping the tough Scouser Carl Dilks in round one.
DeGale, who had to sweat off six pounds at the last minute to make the super-middleweight limit, has earned himself a shot at another Liverpool fighter, the British champion Paul Smith, and that should be a tougher affair.
Mancunian Matthew Hall could not handle the seasoned Lukas Konecny, who took the vacant European light-middleweight belt with a sixth-round stoppage. Hall later announced his retirement.
The 8,000 fans who filled the arena had expected fireworks in the heavyweight rematch between the British champion, Derek Chisora, and Sam Sexton, who was putting his Commonwealth title on the line. It fizzed rather than sparkled, though, until the Londoner did to Sexton what he did the first time and belted him into a beaten hulk on the ropes, seven seconds from the end of round nine.
Chisora, who stopped Sexton on his feet in the fading stages of their six-rounder in June, 2008, was much the busier fighter last night. Sexton has the aerodynamics of the popemobile but one of the best jabs in the division, yet he chose to clasp his gloves to his ears between his own brief flurries. That's a good way to reach 90, no way to win a fight.
Matthew Macklin, who has had enough trainers to open a shoe shop, took back the European middleweight title he relinquished in March when he stopped the determined and unbeaten Georgian Shalva Jomardashvili at the start of the sixth round.
No comments:
Post a Comment