Welsh boxer Nathan Cleverly dug deep in his WBA (regular) light heavyweight title bout before Jürgen Brähmer handed him victory by retiring injured.
Defending champion Brähmer had the better of the early exchanges, but an injury to his right arm saw the German withdrawn at the start of the seventh round.
Victory sees Cleverly add another career title to the WBO light heavyweight belt he held earlier in his career and retained several times before losing it to Sergey Kovalev in 2013.
BREAKING: @NathanClev has WON. The fight has been called off. A surprise stoppage. SS2 for reaction. #AndtheNEW pic.twitter.com/A5dDsEZ5m8
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) October 1, 2016
AND THE NEW!!!!!! #TEAMCLEV
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) October 1, 2016
Praise for Cleverly has already arrived from across the sporting world, and while the Caerphilly fighter would have liked to win in different circumstances he’s unlikely to have too many complaints.
@NathanClev Set the pace not powerful but scoring. I think the pace had a big impact, although champ injured. That's #boxing #TheNew💙#UK👊🏽
— Leon Mckenzie (@LeonMckenzie1) October 1, 2016
Well done @NathanClev not the way he wanted to win i'm sure but #twotimes #worldchampion not to shabby 👌👌 #BraehmerCleverly
— Gary Spike OSullivan (@spike_osullivan) October 1, 2016
Boom @NathanClev world champion again! And the new….👊🏻
— Matthew Connolly (@Connolly035) October 1, 2016
Well done @NathanClev incredible achievement 🐲🐲🐲
— Dave Edwards (@_DaveEdwards) October 1, 2016
If Brähmer’s injury proves serious – and his surprise withdrawal suggests it may well be – then the pair may well have to wait some time before a rematch is scheduled.
That means another opponent could arrive before Cleverly takes on the German again – perhaps someone with whom he has unfinished business…
So will Cleverly Kovalev 2 or Cleverly Bivol materialize after today or nah?
— Henry Lawrence 海瑞 (@hflbend) October 1, 2016
Next up for cleverly, ward or kovalev… Will be a fun watch 👊🏻
— Ryan Atkinson (@ryanatkinson14) October 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/_Badlands_/status/782333787434803200
Kovalev’s next fight comes against Andre Ward in November, with both fighters defending unbeaten records at the T-Mobile Arena in Nevada.
If the Russian wins to go 31-0-1, could we find ourselves in a situation where a rematch with Cleverly is on the cards sooner than we expected?
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