Cleverly to remain unbeaten
Nathan Cleverly is in action this weekend as he takes on American Tommy Karpency at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff.
Cleverly is yet to taste defeat in his 23 fights to date, with 11 of his wins coming by way of knock-out. However, the Welshman was tested in his previous contest with Tony Bellew and will be keen to put on a stellar display against Karpency in front of his home fans.
Karpency arrives with an impressive record, with 21 wins (14 KO), two losses and a draw from his 24 fights to date. However, he is yet to face anyone of Cleverly’s standard and was outclassed in his biggest showdown to date against Karo Murat, who secured a unanimous decision victory in their WBO Inter-Continental light heavyweight title fight in 2010.
It is worth noting that Cleverly secured a win by technical knock-out when he faced Murat and the Welshman should be too strong for Karpency as Cleverly bids to defend his WBO light heavyweight title.
There are some other interesting contests taking place this weekend and heavyweight contender Alexander Povetkin, who may have his sights set on a showdown with one of the Klitschko brothers following the antics of British pair David Haye and Dereck Chisora last weekend, is in action.
The Russian takes on German Marco Huck in Stuttgart on Saturday in what should be a close contest. Huck will also be keen to impress and try and force himself into contention for a bout with one of the Klitschko brothers and the 27-year-old will have the support of the home crowd. Huck may have home advantage but Povetkin is the more experienced of the pair and should be able to secure the win.
The most intriguing contest taking place this weekend takes place across the Atlantic in Saint Louis, Missouri, where home favourite Devon Alexander will take on hard-hitting Argentine Marcos Rene Maidana.
Maidana is perhaps best remembered on this side of the pond for his closely fought battle with Amir Khan in December 2010, which was named the Boxing Writers Association of America Award fight of the year.
Both fighters are making their debuts at welterweight and it will be interesting to see how the pair cope at 147. Maidana should have no problems adapting to the division, he was regarded as one of the hardest punchers at light-welterweight but the Argentine could struggle with the speed, and style, of southpaw Alexander.
Alexander is a tricky fighter, and one who has been accused on the odd occasion of employing ‘dirty’ tactics. The American is quick and well versed at getting inside, landing combinations and removing himself from danger. Maidana admits Alexander is the faster fighter of the two, but the South American has never been knocked out in his career and, as he showed against Khan, has the power to come forward strongly in the latter round.
Maidana will probably need to knock Alexander out if he is to be awarded the victory in Saint Louis. The 28-year-old is certainly capable of winning inside the distance and should not be discounted, especially if he can weather the storm in the early rounds and produce some big shots in the latter stages.
Both will be looking to impress at welterweight in order to secure mega-fights with the stars of the division, such as Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez, Victor Ortiz and, probably Khan, who is set to make the step up after his re-match with Lamont Peterson.
