[Roe]

"First and foremost, and I can't stress this point enough, Nathan has to win his next fight, he has to beat Krasniqi to set himself up," Warren told the Argus.

"Once that is out of the way, we will be - as we are already - in negotiations with both Golden Boy (Oscar De La Hoya's promotion company who look after Hopkins) and the WBO in regard to Nathan's fight with Braehmer.

"Considering the history with Braehmer (the German pulled out of a fight with Cleverly several times before being stripped of the WBO title following a prison sentence) and what a boost a Hopkins v Cleverly fight would be for the entire division, I'm pretty sure it can be done and can be Nathan's next fight."

Warren believes that 26-year old Cleverly will have too much speed for Hopkins.

"We want to sort out the Hopkins fight for the summer and it's a fight I believe Nathan wins," he said. "I think he beats him in the same way Joe Calzaghe did, he'll be too fast and won't let Hop-kins dictate the pace like he did against (Tavoris) Cloud.

"We were close to agreeing everything last year and Hopkins has said he covets unification fights so it's all promising. We are already talking with Golden Boy."

Cleverly told Argus sport on Tuesday that he'd willingly fight Hopkins in the US, but Warren hopes that's not the case.

"I'd like to make the fight for the UK and Wales if possible where there are two stadiums that would fit the bill," he said.

"Nathan went to the US last year and Joe went to America to face Bernard, but the biggest live audience would be in the UK.

"We'd like to save Nathan's fans the air cost so, from my perspective, it'd be better as a big stadium fight in the UK."

Source: http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/sport/10284050._/

 

[Bryn]

I'd definitely go and see Hopkins in Cardiff, but wasn't this supposed to happen last Summer?

 

[nufc_jay]

It can. But it won't. Hopkins won't risk it.

 

[Earl-Hickey]

Strange one this, I expected B-Hop would beat Cloud, but on the other hand I thought Pascall would be able to use his footspeed to outbox the older man and he failed.

It's hard to pick this one, Cleverly is a lot bigger, which Hopkins doesn't like, he also has a good engine and volume has done Hopkins in before.

I see it as 50/50

 

[nufc_jay]

I don't see it as a 50/50/ I think by the time this fight would come around Hopkins will be just that little bit too old and slow, Cleverly's output would be far too much, Hopkins would tie him up a lot making for a boring fight, but it'd get the distance and Cleverly would get a UD in my opinion. Which pains me to say as I don't actually rate Cleverly that highly

 

[Webzcas]

This fight is not going to happen. Certainly not in the UK. Cleverly has got little to no profile in the UK, let alone in the States. Unless of course his fight against Hawk made the US stand up and take notice. :rofl

It just comes across to me ( my opinion #nolitigation )that Hopkins' name is being used to try and improve people's awareness of Cleverly in the UK. Or in this case South Wales.

 

[biglads]

"Cleverly/Hopkins can happen this summer"

Can happen, but won't happen.

 

[nufc_jay]

Lulz at Warren trying to generate interest in his sad, lonely, corpse of a promotions company.

Let it rest, Frank. Let it rest.

 

[Wallet]

I have full confidence that Nathan Cleverly can sell out a stadium in his second headlining fight in Wales.

 

[nufc_jay]

I have full confidence that Nathan Cleverly can sell out a stadium in his second headlining fight in Wales.

 

[Shazz]

I doubt this fight will ever happen.
There is nothing to gain for Hopkins since only about 12 people even know who Cleverly is.
I expect that Hopkins is really eying the winner of the Kessler/Froch rematch. After defeating either of these two, the world will toss out big dollars for Hopkins/Ward.

 

[Roe]

Welcome to the forum @Shazz :good

I doubt this fight will ever happen.
There is nothing to gain for Hopkins since only about 12 people even know who Cleverly is.
I expect that Hopkins is really eying the winner of the Kessler/Froch rematch. After defeating either of these two, the world will toss out big dollars for Hopkins/Ward.

Hard to disagree with any of that. I don't think Hopkins/Ward will ever happen though.

 

[BoxingAnalyst]

"Cleverly/Hopkins can happen this summer"

Can happen, but won't happen.

This.

 

[Shazz]

Welcome to the forum @Shazz :good

Hard to disagree with any of that. I don't think Hopkins/Ward will ever happen though.

All depends on the $$$!
If Hopkins and Ward can manipulate and position the fight to be in the $10-20 range, it will happen. Of course it will.
Hopkins has been self managing himself for a while now. I wonder if Ward will take this route down the road also and leave Goossen?

 

[tdw]

I can see it happening in the US. To be fair to Warren, Schaefer has mentioned the fight as well and I think Hopkins has very limited options. I'd pick Clev on pts

 

[Shazz]

I can see it happening in the US. To be fair to Warren, Schaefer has mentioned the fight as well and I think Hopkins has very limited options. I'd pick Clev on pts

Interesting.
Who has Cleverly fought to prepare him to meet an elite level legend like Hopkins?
At this stage, I doubt that Cleverly could win against Kessler/Froch or even Dawson.
It seems that FW is padding Cleverly's record with bums the same way he did Calzaghes.

 

[Danny]

Interesting.
Who has Cleverly fought to prepare him to meet an elite level legend like Hopkins?
At this stage, I doubt that Cleverly could win against Kessler/Froch or even Dawson.
It seems that FW is padding Cleverly's record with bums the same way he did Calzaghes.

You say 'he probably couldn't even beat Dawson, let alone Hopkins' as if Dawson didn't just comfortably beat B-Hop. I'm not bringing up the whole 'A beats B who beats C so A beats C' angle, but it gives a clear indication of their levels.

Hopkins isn't the fighter he was, and that gives somebody like Cleverly a chance. He may not be anywhere near as good, but at this stage he's far more physically gifted and that may just be enough.

 

[Back to Bill]

I saw nothing from Cleverly in his fights against the Great Warriors Tommy Karpency and Shawn Hawk that suggest he could beat Hopkins now or in 10 years time, workrate and a good engine is not enough, I honestly think Hopkins will make Cleverly look stupid.

Thats why I want the fight to happen.

 

[Shazz]

You say 'he probably couldn't even beat Dawson, let alone Hopkins' as if Dawson didn't just comfortably beat B-Hop. I'm not bringing up the whole 'A beats B who beats C so A beats C' angle, but it gives a clear indication of their levels.

Hopkins isn't the fighter he was, and that gives somebody like Cleverly a chance. He may not be anywhere near as good, but at this stage he's far more physically gifted and that may just be enough.

Cleverly only has a chance IF Hopkins suddenly gets old.
People have been waiting for this to happen ever since the Trinidad fight when he was 38 years old.
I'm not saying that Cleverly does not possess some skills. It's just he has not been in any meaningful fights to display them.
Rather than gunning for Hopkins, I think his career would be best served by doing things the ole fashioned way by working his way up. Let him fight Dawson, Cloud, Author Abrahams, Pasal or Bute to prove himself.
All of these youngsters want to shoot straight to the top without putting in any work. Look what happened to Bute becasue this is exactly what he did. As we saw, he wasn't anywhere near ready to face the top tier in Froch.

 

[Lunny]

Clear Hopkins win for me.

Im optimistic that iyll happen. Warren needs something like this right now. Though a loss could leave him in a worse position.