Cleverly v Karpency Betting: What really happened against Bellew

Boxing Betting / Paul Moon / 21 February 2012 / Leave a Comment

Nathan Cleverly has been working hard to get into top shape ahead of his bout with Tommy Karpency

"Cleverly sparred for years with the best southpaw - Joe Calzaghe - but we witnessed another 90 rounds with southpaws of varying styles so there will be no surprises."

Some boxing fans weren't particularly impressed with Nathan Cleverly's performance against Tony Bellew. But there were mitigating circumstances and we're likely to see the best of the Welshman again when he's up against Tommy Karpency, says Paul Moon.

Some boxing fans were less than impressed with Nathan Cleverly's victory over challenger Tony Bellew in his last fight, especially given his desire of unifying the light heavyweight divisions. However, there were circumstances neither known nor recognised that need to be aired before we can look at his next fight in the proper light.

Cleverly sustained an injury to his ribs when sparring with Chris Eubank Jnr and in a rare acquiescence it was deemed serious enough for the British Boxing Board of Control to authorise a painkilling injection before the fight. The situation demanded a postponement so trainer Vince Cleverly made two anxious calls to the BBBC. Rescheduling was the only option but a pumped-up Nathan Cleverly, not wanting to be labelled a quitter, insisted on fighting despite the obvious subsequent disadvantage.

This gift to Bellew amounted to a lot more than the free hit on the chin Cleverly offered at an earlier press conference. The reported injury had been given to the Board of Control in strict confidence but within minutes, the Bellew camp knew of it. This gave the Liverpudlian braggart a fillip to aid his best-ever preparation. Consequently the injury was targeted with the champion spending precious fight-time protecting it.

The Frank Warren machine realised that Bellew had reached an ephemeral moment in his boxing career and something unlikely to be repeated. Team Cleverly readily acknowledged his massive effort. Warren confirmed that on that night Bellew would have been a handful to any light heavyweight champion and proceeded to talk up the performance.

An aside to the above was the disgraceful behaviour of the Bellew entourage, who used phrases like the 'slitting of throats' and it was accepted, that in part, the situation got to Cleverly. Despite the injury and intimidation, history will record that the boy from Cefn Fforest dealt with and then mastered Bellew in the most challenging of circumstances.

New challenger and southpaw Tommy Karpency has been given a ranking in the top 15 by the WBO for his 25 February 2012 clash with Cleverly at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff. He was ranked 10 by the WBA. This has given the fight added patina along with the fact that the American has not been stopped in 24 fights, with just two losses.

When putting those statistics to Vince Cleverly he told Betfair: "We have spotted a fundamental flaw and aim to make full use of it - the fight will be over before the 10th round. Karpency jabs from too low a position, leaving him open to shots across the top." Nathan added: "The Battle of Bellew will be long forgotten after this one - for this fight I am physically and mentally in the same place. I will not be denied my homecoming, this is my first fight in Wales since 2007 and want to win it looking good."

Cleverly sparred for years with the best southpaw - Joe Calzaghe - but we witnessed another 90 rounds with southpaws of varying styles so there will be no surprises. The fight will be viewed on American TV with WBA champion Beibut Shumenov the most interested. Team Cleverly have targeted him but he is nervous about coming to the UK and wants to fight in the comfort of Las Vegas, with the lion's share of the purse.

Vince Cleverly adamantly believes elderly WBC champion Bernard Hopkins would not be able to cope with his son's non-stop combative action and the latter has already shown marked reluctance in signing up for a fight and that leaves the least able Tavoris Cloud the IBF champion. He has just claimed a controversial split decision verdict over Gabriel Campillo - the latter and most neutrals thought the verdict a disgrace! He remains the weakest of the four light heavyweight champions.

Latest Betfair prices show: Cleverly [1.05] Karpency [21] Draw [60].

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Klitschko v Haye: Is it really going to happen this time?

Boxing Betting / Ralph Ellis / 10 May 2011 / Leave a Comment

The two big men

"As we learned when Haye won his title by out manoeuvring the lumbering figure of Nikolai Valuev, behind all the lurid bragging there is a genuine fighter."

They've had a press conference and gone eyeball-to-eyeball but doubt remains as to whether they'll really get down to business, say Ralph Ellis

The contracts are signed, the two fighters have just done their first eyeball to eyeball press conference to promote the contest. The arena is booked for July 2, less than eight weeks away.

And yet still there are more people prepared to bet on David Haye not fighting Wladimir Klitschko than there are on Manchester United not getting the single point they need to be Premier League champions. If anything it underlines the suspicion people have about boxing politics it is that you can still back Wladimir Klitschko to be David Haye's next opponent at anywhere between [1.04] and [1.2].

You can't blame them. Haye has spent nearly three years trying to goad the Ukrainian brothers into the ring, and I for one won't be certain he's got Wladimir to turn up until the first bell goes. There have been so many twists and turns to the saga, so many training injuries that put off other fights or hastened them, so many insults and lurid stunts. It seems every time it's been on, it's immediately been off.

But at last it seems our brash British hero has got his way. He will put his own WBA version of the title at stake in Hamburg on July 2 in search of Wladimir's three belts - the IBF, IBO and WBO versions. It's a reward for all those insults. And guess what? They aren't stopping now.

Haye tried to come up with a line that would make him more appealing to a British public who instinctively don't like his brash boasting. He talked about honouring the memory of the great Sir Henry Cooper, the man who did most to make heavyweight boxing in Britain a mainstream sport.

But it couldn't last. There was a six-minute stare down, ended only when Haye's trainer Adam Booth put a sheaf of paper between them. Then came the accusation that the younger of the Klitschko brothers is no more than a fraud. The 13 fighters put away by Wladimir since his last defeat - to Lamon Brewster in April 2004 - have been, according to Haye, "fat little American puddings who come over here to get a cheque and get beat." For somebody whose last "fight" was the ridiculous strictly come dancing match with Audley Harrison it leaves him open to three words: pot, kettle, black.

But don't be confused. As we learned when Haye won his title by out manoeuvring the lumbering figure of Nikolai Valuev, behind all the lurid bragging there is a genuine fighter. And when the talking stops he has proper talent, meaning Betfair's early markets making him the outsider for the Klitschko contest at [2.6] presents a great opportunity. And Wladimir won't go down easily, so the [12.5] for Haye to win by a decision is even more tempting.

Whichever way you side, there's no doubt the fight will be one of the great betting events - and come to that great sporting events - of the year. Providing, of course, it actually happens!

Five things you might not know about Lamon Brewster
1. Born in an Indianapolis ghetto in June 1973, he was the oldest of four boys. His dad was a boxing fan who owned a pair of gloves he once fought with - but forbade the young Lamon ever to touch them
2. Aged seven he started going to the local gym with an 86-year-old white trainer called Bill Brown who had once sparred with Jack Dempsey
3. His trainer Bill Slayton died through cancer three months before his win over Klitschko. He said he won the fight because he ignored the advice the new guy was giving him
4. He retired in January after an eye injury caused him to lose to Robert Helenius. He claimed the Finnish fighter tampered with his gloves
5. He's now supporting a campaign to prevent cruelty to animals

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Russian Football Betting: Are the good old days at Spartak really over?

European Leagues / Jonathan Wilson / 21 April 2011 / Leave a Comment

Valeri Karpin is responsible for appointing his own successor as manager of Spartak

"Karpin has resigned, but remains in charge of team affairs until a new manager is appointed. As general director, of course, he is in charge of that recruitment. He offered to resign that position as well, but the board refused even to consider it."

Once the superpower of Russian football, Spartak Moscow are currently struggling at the foot of the table and in the market for a new manager. Jonathan Wilson explains just what's going on over there...

Spartak Moscow is a club in danger of lurching into Newcastle or Tottenham territory. A vibrant young side, packed with gifted attacking players, there was a sense about them even before the season began that they would either be abysmal or brilliant; there was little scope for mediocrity. Given their coach, Valery Karpin, an oddly dreamy, almost ethereal presence, was also their director general, the chances of farce seemed greatly increased.

Karpin first took charge in 2009, replacing Michael Laudrup. Playing exciting, uplifting football, he led Spartak to second in the table, and it was impossible not to imagine what might have happened had they not suffered an indifferent start under the Dane. But last season, they never hit consistent form and finished only fourth. Still, progress in the Europa League and optimism about the future sugared the pill.

This season, though, began with a 4-0 defeat at Rostov, and has got worse since. Although Spartak saw off Ajax in the last 16 of the Europa League, they were thrashed 10-3 on aggregate in the quarter-final by Porto ([2.44] favourites to win the competition). Defeat at Anzhi on Sunday came as the final straw, leaving Spartak bottom of the Russian table with four points from five games.

Karpin has resigned, but remains in charge of team affairs until a new manager is appointed. As general director, of course, he is in charge of that recruitment. He offered to resign that position as well, but the board refused even to consider it.
To make matters even more confusing, the fans seemingly want Karpin to stay. "We think that in the current situation firing the manager is a thoughtless step," said a statement from Fratria, the biggest of the Spartak supporters associations. "At the moment there is no alternative to Valery Karpin as manager of Spartak. No one else could make 'our wizards with the ball' take their jobs professionally."

The likes of Claudio Ranieri and Louis van Gaal have been linked with the job, but the favourite at the moment is the former Dinamo Moscow coach Andrey Kobelev, something to which the fans are opposed to because of his links with one of Spartak's main rivals.

Karpin took charge of what he insists will be his final game in charge of Spartak on Wednesday, as they beat Krasnodar 2-1 in the Cup. Adding to the surreal air, the 40-year-old midfielder Andrei Tikhonov, who retired last year and has returned to the club as a coach, played for the first 53 minutes before leaving the field to a standing ovation. His final performance, against Real Madrid in September 2000, when the then-coach Oleg Romantsev insisted he was "finished" is widely perceived as the moment at which the great era of Spartak domination began to unravel. They won the league the following year, but never since.

Whether his return, even in a semi-symbolic capacity, can rekindle the spirit of old is debatable. The world of Russian football now is very different to that of the nineties, when Spartak won nine of the first ten Russian league titles. They were then the biggest club by some distance, a hangover from Soviet times when they were effectively Russia's representative in the Supreme League, and they seem still to be struggling to adjust to their new role.

Other clubs from the capital, notably CSKA, who beat Zenit in the Cup yesterday, now have similar resources, while the last five to six years have been marked by the rise of provincial sides such as Zenit St Petersburg and Rubin Kazan. For all the mockery of Anzhi's big spending on elderly Brazilians, the fact they can sign a player like Roberto Carlos indicated a depth of resources that would have been unthinkable even a decade ago.

Like an old colonial power struggling to deal with the loss of empire, Spartak blunder on, unsure how to react to the upstarts around them, certain only that they should be doing better than they are. It is 10 years now since they last won a league title, a run that will almost certainly stretch one more year.

Spartak face fellow strugglers Spartak Nalchik on Sunday. They are [1.48] to win, with Nalchik [4.0].

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