Bellew's trainer bangs drum for Cleverly rematch

Bellew's trainer bangs drum for Cleverly rematch

Submitted by BoxRec News on Wed, 22/10/2014 - 19:23.

Tony Bellew fights Nathan Cleverly in a non-title rematch on the 22nd of November at the Echo Arena, Liverpool, and has relocated to the Rotherham base of his trainer Dave Coldwell to prepare.

“I’d taken a back seat training fighters due to my promotional commitments,” said Coldwell. “But watching Tony in training every day convinces me it was the right decision to give it another go. The kid does everything asked of him and then some. I don’t think Nathan Cleverly can handle what’s coming his way.”

“I don’t want to sound like I’m running through clichés,” added Coldwell, “but I can't believe the amount of effort he's putting into [training for] this fight. His sparring is going well, his fitness and conditioning is where it needs to be, and his hunger to achieve and improve every session is second to none. The career for a boxer is a relatively short one when you look at it so the chance for huge glory may only come around once or twice and that’s if you’re lucky.”

Bellew came back from an unsuccessful challenge to WBC light-heavy boss Adonis Stevenson in 2013 with a last-round stoppage in a twelve-rounder versus Russian veteran Varely Brudov in March, and followed that with a fifth-round stoppage of Brazilian Julio Cesar Dos Santos in July. His record now stands at 22-2-1, with 14 early finishes.

Cleverly has also scored two wins since coming a cropper on the world stage, finishing things versus imports Shawn Corbin and Alejandro Emilio Valori in two and four rounds respectively. He sports a 28-1, 14 KO slate, with the only loss coming when he conceded his WBO title to Sergey Kovalev in 2013.

The first meeting between Bellew and Cleverly was won by the Welshman on a majority decision for Cleverly's WBO title, in October 2011.

The card, to be televised on pay-per-view at a likely cost of £16.99, will also feature Bury's Scott Quigg, who defends his WBA “regular” title against Hidenori Otake, of Japan. Quigg is 29-0 (22); the 33 year old Otake is 22-1-3, with nine stoppage wins.

Further down the bill, Callum Smith, the Liverpool super-middle prospect, faces Nikola Sjekloca in a twelve round bout billed by the promoter as a WBC eliminator. Smith is 14-0 (11 by KO); the visitor, from Montenegro, is 27-2 (8 early).

Also slated to appear are former British and European 12 stone champ James Degale, who takes on Marco Antonio Periban of Mexico over twelve. Degale is 19-1, 13 KOs, whilst Periban's mark is 20-2-1 (13).

2012 Olympic champ Anthony Joshua will meet veteran trial horse Michael Sprott in a scheduled ten-rounder on the undercard. Joshua has scored nine straight stoppage wins since turning professional following the London Olympic Games. Sprott boasts a 42-22 record, with 17 early. In his last bout, in June, he was blown out in a round by fellow-fortysomething Kali Meehan, of New Zealand.

Promoter Eddie Hearn is said to be holding a press conference tomorrow (the 23rd of October) to announce a further “big name” appearance for the card.

Read the original article on news.boxrec.com