Nathan Cleverly’s career has been revived after he won the WBA regular light-heavyweight title in Germany on Saturday evening following Jürgen Brähmer’s withdrawal through injury.
The defending champion, from Germany, appeared to be leading his one-dimensional challenger when he pulled out at the end of the sixth round in Neubrandenburg.
Cleverly, 29, formerly the WBO champion, again looked far from the fighter he was before suffering his first professional defeat to Russia's Sergey Kovalev in 2013. Little thought or skill went into an approach reliant on workrate and an apparent hope his superior size and stamina would tell in the fight’s second half.
The 37-year-old Brähmer began to read and time him after an uncertain start, but unexpectedly withdrew just before the seventh round was due to start with a suspected dislocated elbow. A rematch clause existed in the fight’s contract, which the German may choose to activate.
Cleverly’s victory comes five years after he was first scheduled to challenge Brähmer, and two after his compatriot Enzo Maccarinelli lost to the German when withdrawing with badly swollen eye.
Elsewhere on Saturday, New Zealand’s Joseph Parker stopped Alexander Dimitrenko of Russia in three rounds in Auckland to remain on course to fight Anthony Joshua. He is the mandatory challenger for the IBF heavyweight title.
Â
Â
www.primenewsghana.com