Boxing Betting 
/ Paul Moon / 21 May 2011 / Leave a Comment Paul believes Nathan Cleverly will be unshaken by his scheduled opponent's withdrawal
"The fact that new opponent Aleksy Kuziemski is an orthodox boxer will not be a problem because Cleverly had built the non-attendance of Braehmer into his training."
The markets are certain that Nathan Cleverly is set for another victory on Saturday night. Does Cleverly-aficionado Paul Moon agree?
Nathan Cleverly is the 11th boxing world champion to come from Wales and he did it 12 months quicker than Joe Calzaghe. He was awarded the WBO Light Heavyweight title after scheduled opponent Juergen Braehmer pulled out with a supposed eye injury. History will record that the German bottled it.
This columnist had been privy to both the planning for that fight and was staggered by the attention to detail. Every eventuality had been covered and the physical preparation first class. Not a single day of training was lost and the boxer never fitter or stronger. Nathan assured me that Juergen Braehmer would never have met such levels of fitness, strength and endurance before and the team had an inkling that he might dodge the fight because of it.
The German neither needed nor wanted this mandatory match. With only five rounds of boxing since 19 December 2009, he would have preferred yet another low-level defence in front of a partisan crowd, something that epitomised his career. The boxing media consensus was that if Cleverly boxed Braehmer he would win but if he fought him he would lose - not true according to the home camp. Nathan was supremely confident he had the tools to win in either fashion and wanted to prove it.
In his preparation Cleverly had completed close to 100 rounds of sparring with southpaws, including 32 with James DeGale, where at times there was a touch of temper. The fact that new opponent Aleksy Kuziemski is an orthodox boxer will not be a problem because Cleverly had built the non-attendance of Braehmer into his training. Besides, there is a big difference in class between these two fighters - it is worth reminding readers that Cleverly was trading at [1.57] and Braehmer [2.86] on the Betfair market before the plug was pulled.
After the Tony Bellew debacle some sanity was restored when Polish fighter Kuziemski was chosen for the fight. Ranked 11 by the WBO, he is three places higher than Bellew. His 23-fight record includes 21 wins though the highlight of his decent career was losing to Braehmer over 11 rounds. There is no knowing how fit he is but he remains a test bigger than the one Bellew would have posed.
One imagines the biggest danger to Cleverly was the pre-fight chaos. Promoter Frank Warren called the situation a 'total nightmare' and is genuinely worried about how his boxer deals with it. Boxing stalwart and matchmaker Dean Powell was less concerned, he told Betfair: "Nathan is a model professional. There has been no collateral damage whatsoever with the nonsense he has endured in the last 24 hours, in fact he has been magnificent."
Father and trainer Vince echoed those points adding: "We do not know what all the fuss is about. Nathan is relaxed but focussed, there will be no complacency and no excuses and he is confident of putting on a good show. Actually the Polish boy is tailor made for Nathan and he will knock him by the eighth or ninth round if not before."
This is a good time for Cleverly to be champion with plenty of options and a chance to unify the division. Some fights that could come about include Bernard Hopkins or all-British affairs against Carl Froch and James DeGale. One day the Tony Bellew fight could happen and that would make for interesting viewing.
Of course, winning the title is one thing but keeping it is another. Nathan reminded us that he does not consider himself champion yet, that will come at the end of the Kuziemski fight. He is treating tonight's bout as if he were the challenger. Latest Betfair prices show: Cleverly [1.06] Kuziemski [13.5] Draw [55.0].
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