Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that Nathan Cleverly will battle Juergan Brahemer for a Light Heavyweight belt on April 2nd at Wembley Arena in London.
“I’m delighted that I’ve been able to secure home advantage for Nathan,” said Frank Warren. “It wasn’t cheap to get Brahmer over here, but it will be worth it because I really believe in Nathan and he has a big future ahead of him. It looked like the fight was going to go to purse bids, but we made a substantial offer the night before and it was enough to persuade Brahmer to say yes.”
“Nathan has worked incredibly hard for this opportunity, and waited patiently to get his shot,” Warren said. “He’s getting this fight at exactly the right time, and it could be a massive moment in his career. This is a huge fight. Brahmer is a proven champion and belongs at elite level, while Cleverly is young and hungry and could be the next big thing in the UK. Don’t forget that light-heavyweight is a very sexy division right now.
“You’ve got Chad Dawson, Bernard Hopkins, Tavoris Cloud and Jean Pascal out there, and Nathan has the chance to make a name for himself both here and in the [United] States.”
“I always thought that I would get my shot at Brahmer,” Cleverly said. “There was talk that he might be stripped or would vacate the title, but I never wanted that to happen. He’s the champion and the only way I would consider myself a true champion is if I took the belt from him, rather than picking up the vacant title. I’m going to take the fight to Brahmer, walk through him and give him some serious punishment. I feel that this fight has come at the perfect time for me and I want to make a big statement.
“You only have to take a look at Brahmer’s record to realize just how dangerous he will be. He’s a genuine champion and a genuine talent, but I think I have enough in my armory to beat him. Before my last fight I was only sparring amateurs, but this time around I’ve got some big professional cruiserweights in and I’ve been knocking them out. I’m going to significantly better against Braehmer than I was against Mohammedi, and I’m predicting a spectacular performance.”