Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that WBO Light Heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly will defend his title against Pennsylvanian Tommy Karpencey on February 25th in Cleverly’s home country of Wales.
“This is my first fight in Cardiff for a long time, and I’m looking forward to putting on a good show for my fans against Karpency,” Cleverly said. “My return has created a big interest in Wales and it’s going to be a fantastic welcome home.
“I’ve trained over Christmas and I’m in great shape already, and we’re still over seven weeks away from the fight, so I’ll be spot on come fight night.”
Karpency (21-2-1, 14 KOs), of Adah, Pa., is a bit of a surprise challenger. He has never beaten a top opponent, and the only time he stepped up to face a world-class opponent he was knocked down and lost a clear decision to Karo Murat in Germany in May 2010.
The 25-year-old Karpency has won two fights in a row since the loss to Murat, whose only defeat was a 10th-round knockout to Cleverly in a September 2010 title elimination bout.
“Karpency looks like a tough fighter and he took Murat the distance last year, and Murat gave me a hard fight,” Cleverly said. “I’ve got big plans for this year that I hope will include a unification fight, so I’ve got to keep busy and beat Karpency in style.”
