Cleverly derrotó claramente a Karpency

El inglés Nathan Cleverly no tuvo problemas para asegurar la tercera defensa de la corona semipesada de la Organización Mundial de Boxeo (OMB), al derrotar por decisión unánime al estadounidense Tommy Karpency, este sábado por la noche en el pleito estelar de una cartilla que fue organizada en la Arena Motorpoint de Cardiff, Gales, Reino Unido.

 Cleverly navegó cómodo en esta victoria sobre Karpency, a quien dominó sin mayores problemas en cada uno de los rounds, rumbo a una clara decisión 120-108 en las tres tarjetas de los jueces.

 Con este triunfo, Cleverly mejoró su record a 24-0, con 11 nocauts, mientras que Karpency quedó con 21-3-1, con 14 nocauts.

 Cleverly ganó el título en diciembre de 2010 al vencer a Nadjib Mohammedi, y lo defendió en dos ocasiones en 2011 con triunfos sobre Aleksy Kuziemski y Tony Bellew. Karpency, entretanto, se encuentra clasificado número 11 por la OMB en las 175 libras.

 En esta misma cartilla, el ex campeón mundial crucero de la OMB, ahora combatiendo en los pesos completos, Enzo Maccarinelli (34-5, 27 nocauts) se impuso en dos vueltas a Ciaran Healy (13-18-1, 4 nocauts), mientras que el prospecto peso welter Frankie Gavin (12-0, 9 nocauts) resolvió por la vía rápida, en tres rounds, a Kevin McIntyre (30-9, 9 nocauts) y el superpluma Craig Evans (6-0, 2 nocauts) noqueó en el primero a Marc Callaghan (19-29-1).

http://www.notifight.com/artman2/publish/Resultado_2/Cleverly_derrot_claramente_a_Karpency.php

WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (24-0, 11 KOs) scored a one-sided, but uninspired twelve round unanimous decision over heavy underdog Tommy Karpency (21-3-1, 14 KOs) on Saturday night at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales. Cleverly was in command all the way, but was never able to sufficiently break through the cover of the defensive-minded Karpency to get the stoppage. Scores were 120-108 on all cards. It was Cleverly’s first fight in his native Wales in almost four years.

“Tommy is very tough,” said Cleverly afterward. “Out of every fighter I’ve fought, he’s punched the hardest so far. And I’ve fought some big punchers…It was a nice performance, a good workout. It was exciting and there’s plenty more to come from me.”

Former WBO cruiserweight champion, now fighting as a light heavyweight, Enzo Maccarinelli (34-5, 27 KOs) dropped journeyman Ciaran Healy (13-18-1, 4 KOs) with a body shot in round two and Healy’s corner threw in the towel moments later.

Unbeaten welterweight prospect and 2008 Olympian Frankie Gavin (12-0, 9 KOs) scored a third round KO over Kevin McIntyre (30-9, 9 KOs). A body shot finished it.

http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/results-from-cardiff-wales-109020

After a four year drought, WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (23-0, 11 KOs) receives a well earned homecoming this Saturday when he defends his WBO belt for a third time against Pennsylvania’s Tommy Karpency (21-2-1, 14 KOs) at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales. An impressive victory will leave Cleverly primely placed for a huge outdoor blockbuster in the summer that could elevate him into an elite level earner.

Cleverly’s assessment top light heavyweights Bernard Hopkins, Chad Dawson, Jean Pascal, Beibut Shumenov and Tavoris Cloud:

For me, Hopkins is number one in our division. He’s the oldest world champion in the record books, a legend, but, with my youth and enthusiasm, I’d definitely fancy it.

I view (WBC king) Dawson as the most dangerous in the division. He’s big at the weight, southpaw, heavy handed and technically good as well. The timing would have to be right for that one, maybe a few more fights down the line.

Pascal is a fight that definitely interests me. I think our styles would really blend well. He’s a big name and a huge draw in his home country. I’d be prepared to go to Canada, if needed. He’s big, strong, powerful, pumped up, explosive but I’d back my speed and stamina to wear him down over the 12 rounds.

Shumenov (the WBA champion) is more inexperienced and that would be a good unification fight, a good stepping stone. He’s young and hungry and he’d definitely give me a tough fight but, from what I saw of him against (Gabriel) Campillo, it’s a fight I should definitely win.

Cloud (IBF boss) is a very vicious fighter; a big puncher who likes to come forward and stamp his authority. He’s an American who’s been given the Jeff Lacy style hype. He’s also quite busy and fit. Like Pascal, I think our styles would mesh well. We all like to fight on the front foot and get involved. It could be very entertaining.

If I could choose, I’d go with unification against either Shumenov or Cloud. Both would be progressive moves towards getting to the very top guys in the division, Hopkins and Dawson.

On former champ Juergen Braehmer, who handed over the title to Cleverly by pulling out of three straight defenses late and getting stripped.

He did make a comeback recently but didn’t look too sharp. He’s too temperamental, too unreliable to line up a fight with.

On a possible fight with former WBC super-middleweight boss Carl Froch, whom Cleverly recently called out:

I just think it makes sense. Two top British fighters, just one weight class apart. It would generate a lot of interest. Carl’s mentioned stepping up before and he’s mentioned my name in the past. We’ve both displayed our heart and guts, both like to stand and trade so it’d sure to be entertaining. If that was offered for this summer, I’d definitely take it. Carl’s tough, has a granite chin so it’d likely be a distance fight but I just think I’d have too much speed and movement.

On looking past Karpency:

The way I train, I don’t need an opponent to get up for. My main focus is always to improve myself; to be sharper, fitter, more technically sound. I’ve just opened a new gym in Aberbargoed and training there, plus the opportunity to fight in Wales again and deliver a spectacular performance for the Welsh fans, provide me with all the motivation I need.

http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/cleverly-eyes-big-fight-in-summer-108601

Training camp is close to coming to a finish and WBO world light-heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly has taken time to reflect on his preparation for The Homecoming at the Motorpoint Arena on February 25th.

Cleverly opened with, “Preparation has been excellent and I’m very, very satisfied with the way it’s gone. Mentally I feel focused and just so excited to go now.”

“I feel as though this is one of the better camps that I’ve done, it’s the best I’ve been in terms of mental focus. I’ve had the right preparation and the right length of time to train for the fight, I was given good notice. It’s been a good camp and one of the best I’ve done.”

Predominantly training at the new facility of the Planet Fitness gym in Aberbargoed has provided Cleverly with a larger ring and it’ll be put to good use one last time before fight night.

“I’ll have another good hard spar, one more before the fight and then I think that will be the final hard session before the fight and before we start tapering it down.” he explained.

The opponent will be American southpaw Tommy Karpency whose stance presents an added element to adjust to but Cleverly’s confident of enforcing himself on Karpency.

He said, “As always, I’m focusing on more what I can do in the fight, what I can improve on and I’ve been learning some things myself.”

“Obviously I’ve had a little look at Karpency to get an idea of what he’s about – his stance, style, the way he fights but I’m more concentrating on my technique and taking that into the ring.”

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=30791&more=1

Nathan Cleverly insists it would be a “recipe for disaster” to underestimate Tommy Karpency at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena on February 25.

WBO light-heavyweight champion Cleverly has been matched against the little-known American for his homecoming fight.

While the unbeaten 24-year-old from Cefn Fforest hopes to treat the expected sell-out 5,000 crowd to a fine spectacle, he has ruled out complacency creeping into his preparations.

“It would be absolutely stupid and naive to underestimate any opponent in boxing, especially in a world title fight,” he said.

“It would be recipe for disaster. A lot of people have written Tommy off, but they’re not the ones who are stepping into the ring.

“When you face another trained fighter, you must be on your game, especially at this level.

“I’ve prepared even better than I have for any other fight.

“Tommy’s got nothing to lose and can give it everything knowing there’s a big prize at the end of the line.

“It’s my ambition to remain unbeaten and prevent that from happening.

“I want to enjoy the performance and put on a good display of boxing.

“It could go the distance and the most important thing is that physically and mentally I’m prepared to go 12 rounds.”

The unheralded Karpency has lost two of his 24 fights and had most people scratching their heads when he was unveiled as Cleverly’s next opponent.

But the 26-year-old from Pennsylvania insists he is capable of causing a major upset.

“I’m not sure who Nathan was in negotiations with for this fight, but for me this is the pinnacle of the sport, a world championship bout,” he said.

“The reason I was chosen as an opponent doesn’t affect my drive to win whatsoever.

“I’ve gone through my whole career without a promoter, my father’s my trainer and manager.

“I’ve been written off and that doesn’t really bother me, but I imagine Nathan’s camp haven’t written me off.

“I believe I can beat any light-heavyweight in the world. If I didn’t, I shouldn’t be in sport.”

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=49363

World Boxing Organization (WBO) world light-heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly expects the Welsh and British boxing fans to be at their very best when he makes his long awaited homecoming on February 25th.

Cleverly will face American Tommy Karpency in the 3rd defence of his world title as he headlines the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff. He’ll be fighting in front of his own Welsh fans for the first time in 4 years and there are just a few hundred tickets left before the show sells out.

“The atmosphere is going to be awesome on the night. It’s going to be a sold out arena and such a good atmosphere. It’s going to give me a great buzz and there’s a good buzz around the fight. I’m excited to come out to an atmosphere like this, it’s going to be electric”, Cleverly commented.

Despite it being the first time that Cleverly will have headlined a show in his homeland, he’s aware that he mustn’t fall for the pitfalls of fighting at home.

“It would be very easy to get carried away once I hear the atmosphere. It would be easy to slip off my plan and go all guns blazing. But I know I can deal with the occasion and the pressure and I’m looking forward to going out and enjoying myself.” said Cleverly.

In the opposition corner will be Karpency and Cleverly is sure that he’ll have not seen any crowd like it before.

He said, “When Karpency hears the atmosphere from the crowd and then he has to deal with me putting it on him in the ring when the first bell goes then he knows he’s in the deep and it’s going to be a very difficult night for Karpency all round.”

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=30667&more=1

Nathan Cleverly is hoping to help “bring the glory days back to Wales” when he takes on the “dangerous” Tommy Karpency at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena on February 25.

The WBO light-heavyweight champion is busy preparing for his title defence, which will be his first fight in Wales since 2007, and is looking forward to having the eyes of the sporting world on Cardiff and Wales that weekend.

Hours before his clash with American Karpency, Wales collide with England at Twickenham, while Cardiff meet Liverpool in the Carling Cup final on Sunday at Wembley.

“It’s a great weekend of sport and it’s great to be involved,” the 24-year-old told the Daily Mail. “I can see why there could be potential pressure on me but I’m just enjoying the occasion, which I think will enhance my performance.

“It’s a big deal for myself, and for Welsh boxing; hopefully we can bring the glory days back to Wales. To come home as world champion is a special occasion.

“Training is going well, everything is on track. It’s just a case of focusing for the last three weeks.”

Many are tipping Cleverly to make light work of his opponent, but Karpency has never been stopped in 24 fights.

“He is tough,” said Cleverly. “He has operated at cruiserweight so he’s a strong fighter. He’s got not nothing to lose and there’s no pressure on him, so he’s potentially dangerous. He’s a trained fighter so he’s capable of causing an upset just like anyone else.”

Should Cleverly manage to safely negotiate his way past the challenge in front of him, bigger fights await the Welshman.

“After this fight we’ll be looking to get straight on the case and have a unification fight in the summer. Bernard Hopkins is regarded as No. 1 in the division and I know he’s got a big fight with Chad Dawson coming up. These guys are the ones you target to become the best you can.”

http://www.espn.co.uk/boxing/sport/story/134423.html

NATHAN Cleverly is capturing the imagination of the sporting public in South Wales.

Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena is hosting Clev’s WBO light-heavyweight title defence against Tommy Karpency on February 25 and has a boxing capacity of just under 5,000.

Only 900 tickets are left for the show and with four weeks to go a sell-out is on the cards.

“The atmosphere is going to be awesome,” Cleverly told me this week. “It’s going to be a sold-out arena and that’s going to give me a great buzz.

“It’s so exciting to know I’m going to come out to an atmosphere like this, it’s going to be electric.

“It’s difficult to gauge my fan base really because I haven’t fought at home for such a long time.

“But it’s very impressive that people are coming out to support me and it means a lot, it really does.

“Hopefully I can return the favour and put on a great performance for the fans.”

Cleverly’s ‘homecoming’ is in the middle of a huge weekend for Welsh sport.

Wales are in Six Nations action against England at Twickenham on the Saturday afternoon, while many of Clev’s fans could be at Wembley the following day to see Cardiff City play in the Carling Cup final.

Clev is a big City fan himself and is hoping for a weekend to remember.

“I hope we can make it a real successful and exciting weekend,” he said.

“It would be very easy to get carried away once I hear the crowd, slip off my plan and go all guns blazing.

“But I know I can deal with the occasion and the pressure and I’m looking forward to enjoying myself.

“When the first bell goes he’ll soon know he’s in deep, it’s going to be a very difficult night for Karpency all round.”

British and Commonwealth featherweight champion Lee Selby will be on the undercard on February 25 – and Cleverly is confident the Barry boxer will be joining him at the top soon.

Selby burst onto the scene in 2011 when he won his belts by knocking out the highly-touted Stephen Smith and then dismissing domestic veteran John Simpson.

“He has the potential to come as far as I have and push on now,” said Cleverly.

“He’s very talented and there’s no reason why he can’t get to world level.

“He’s got the boxing ability and skills and I definitely think he can follow in my footsteps.”

Both men are 24 and the pair shared much of their amateur days together.

“We came through together. We were always in the Welsh championships and he was a couple of weights below me,” recalled Clev.

“I’ve always known he’s had class and he’s showing that in the professional ranks now, he’s coming through very well.

“He took his opportunity to win the British and Commonwealth titles unexpectedly, but it wasn’t really a surprise to the people who knew him.

“He’s always had pedigree and I think he’s a very good fighter.”

I’m delighted to say I’m working with Team Cleverly on a VIP package to include pre-show hospitality and an after-show party on February 25.

WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (23-0, 11 KO’s) is supposedly going to be stepping it up a couple levels after his mismatch with Tommy Karpency (21-2-1, 14 KO’s) next month on February 25th and start facing some good fighters for a change.

From what I’m hearing is that the 24-year-old Cleverly is hoping to bag 47-year-old WBC light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins next for a fight that Cleverly hopes will be taking place in Wales. Cleverly’s already been soundly rejected by Carl Froch, who’s only interested in fighting well known guys rather than an unknown guy like Cleverly who is doing it wrong in terms of building his popularity with his soft matchmaking.

Karpency isn’t someone that will make it easy for Cleverly to look good against. If you’ve seen any of Karpency’s fights, and I’ve had the displeasure of seeing several of them, he usually tries to punch a little at first, but then begins to fall in for clinch after clinch.

We saw this in fights against Karo Murat, Chuck Mussachio and Erik Howard. If he’s got a weak opponent in front of him, Karpency can take them out fairly quickly. Feed a C level guy and Karpency is a terror. But you put in with a B level fighter like Murat and Cleverly, and you’ll see Karpency stall out.

This isn’t going to be the kind of fight that will raise Cleverly’s stature among boxing fans. He needs someone better than this that can at least test him a little. I don’t what the disconnect is with Cleverly’s soft matchmaking. I mean he was put in with a number #13 fighter in his last bout against Tony Bellew and now he’s being matched against Karpency, who isn’t even ranked at all by the WBO. What happened to champions fighting top five opposition? Is that not good enough for Cleverly or what? So he’s going to go from a non-top 15 opponent into a unification bout with Hopkins or Beibut Shumenov? If I was those guys I would completely ignore Cleverly until he starts facing top five opponents and proving he can beat them instead of being matched against the bottom of the division over and over again.

By Scott Gilfoid:

http://www.boxingnews24.com/2012/01/cleverly-karpency-nathan-needs-to-shine-in-this-fight/

WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (23-0, 11 KO’s) didn’t look at all good in his last fight against Tony Bellew and looked about as bad in his fight before that against Aleksy Kuziemski. So this time, Cleverly is facing an arguably even weaker opponent in Tommy Karpency (21-2-1, 14 KO’s) on February 25th, at the Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales.

This time Cleverly is certain he’ll look good. It’s just too bad that he had to be matched up against a guy that’s not even ranked in the top 15 by the World Boxing Organization for him to shine. Cleverly got a win over Bellew last time out in October and few boxing fans saw Cleverly winning that fight. A lot of boxing fans, this writer included, saw it as a draw.

Cleverly is still moving forward rather than taking a big risk and fighting the #13 WBO ranked Bellew again and possibly losing this time. So instead of a dangerous fighter or someone at least ranked in the top five, Karpency has been found for Cleverly and that’s who he’ll be facing in front of his home fans in Wales.

I don’t know how Cleverly can do this. I mean when you fight a bottom #13 opponent like Bellew, aren’t you supposed to fight your mandatory next? How is it Cleverly is now able to fight a guy like Karpency who isn’t even ranked in the top 15 by the WBO? If they’re going to suddenly rank Karpency near the top, they’re really lagging because he’s still not even ranked in the top 15 by the WBO. I see him at #10 by the WBA, but that’s not the WBO.

Cleverly told walesonline.co.uk “It’s a fight I should and will win because I’ll break him down and look good doing it.”

You think? Yeah, I think Cleverly will look good but look at who he had to fight for that to happen. If a champion has to dig up non-top 15 ranked contenders just to look good then boxing is in pretty bad shape.

Cleverly expects to fight 47-year-old Bernard Hopkins or Beibut Shumenov in the summer in Wales. Let me be the first to say this: It’s not going to happen, at least not in Wales. Those guys aren’t going to go to Wales and risk losing by a hometown decision. I’m sure they would love to fight Cleverly because they see what I see him in him – a vulnerable fighter that just went life and death with a fighter ranked #13. But Hopkins and Shumenov sure as heck won’t go to Wales and make it easy for Cleverly to win a controversial decision. That isn’t going to happen even if they get a good payday by agreeing to fight Cleverly there.

By Scott Gilfoid:

http://www.boxingnews24.com/2012/01/cleverly-ill-look-good-in-beating-karpency/

World champion looking forward to summer ‘superfight’

Nathan Cleverly is hoping to further enhance his box office appeal when he defends his WBO light-heavyweight title against Tommy Karpency.

The Welshman will make the third defence of belt against the American at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena on February 25, in what could be a stepping stone to a big open-air fight in the summer.

“Frank (Warren) has got big plans for me and to fight at Cardiff City’s ground would be a dream,” he said. “I’m still only 24 and time is on my side to achieve a lot of things.

“I know the big super-fights will come, I’ve just got to keep putting on good displays and we are progressively getting there.

“In the meantime I can’t be complacent by taking my eye off the ball and let Karpency upset the plans.

“I saw Karo Murat’s fight against Karpency when I was preparing for my fight against Murat and I saw that he’s a southpaw, tough, rugged and strong. He’ll come to have a fight with me, but I’ll break him down and look good doing it.”

http://www1.skysports.com/boxing/news/12183/7423772/Clev-Big-fights-will-come

WBO World Light-Heavyweight Champion Nathan Cleverly will make his homecoming title defence against American Tommy Karpency on Saturday 25th February.

The unbeaten Welshman has his first fight in Wales for over four years when he takes on Karpency at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, live and exclusive on BoxNation (Sky Ch. 456/Virgin Ch. 546).

Cleverly recorded the best win of his career when he beat rival Tony Bellew last October in a thrilling, all-action, fight that saw the 24-year-old win on points.

An offer went to WBA title-holder Beibut Shumenov to face Cleverly, but he said he would not be ready in time – although it could happen later this year.

WBC Champion Bernard Hopkins was also sent an offer, but Hopkins has a forthcoming rematch with Chad Dawson.

WBA number 11 ranked Karpency, 25, has a good record of 21 wins from 24 fights and 14 knockouts and last year took Karo Murat – who Cleverly beat in September 2010 – the full twelve rounds.

“This is my first fight in Cardiff for a long time and I’m looking forward to putting on a good show for my fans’ against Karpency,” said Cleverly.

“My return has created a big interest in Wales and it’s going to be a fantastic welcome home on 25th February at the Motorpoint Arena,”

“I’ve trained over Christmas and I’m in great shape already and we’re still over seven weeks’ away from the fight so I’ll be spot on come fight night,”

“Karpency looks like a tough fighter and he took Murat the distance last year and Murat gave me a hard fight,”

“I’ve got big plans for this year that I hope will include a unification fight so I’ve got to keep busy and beat Karpency in style.”

Tickets for Cleverly v Karpency from £40 are available from the Motorpoint Arena Box Office on 02920 224 488

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=48090