The hometown hero went down like a ton of bricks Saturday as Sergey Kovalev knocked out the previously undefeated Nathan Cleverly becoming the new WBO light heavyweight champion at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales U.K.
The bout was felt as a measuring stick for Kovalev, as Cleverly represented a big step up in competition for the heavy-handed Russian, but quickly turned into Kovalev’s coming out party as he finished the bout in style.
Many felt that Cleverly (26-1, 12 KOs) would be victorious in the bout as long as he didn’t get caught with too many power shots from Kovalev (22-0, 20 KOs).
Kovalev obviously knew what he had to do as he came out the gate swinging and left little opportunity for Cleverly to do anything but cover up and dodge punches.
Losing the first two rounds to Kovalev’s aggressive attack, Cleverly began to throw more punches in the third and looked as if he was finding his groove just as he got caught by Kovalev, dropping him to the canvas towards the end of the third.
Coming out of his corner at the start of Round 4 clearly still in a daze, Cleverly was a sitting duck for Kovalev and the bout was waved off as Kovalev teed-off on Cleverly en route to his 20th knockout in 22 fights.
Kovalev is now a force to be reckoned with in the light heavyweight division and has to be respected with the power he possesses.
