According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, WBO Light Hevyweight champion Nathan Cleverly will defend the crown against hard punching Sergey Kovalev in a battle of Undefeated fighters on August 17th in Cardiff, Wales and will be televised by HBO>
Cleverly’s sixth title defense will be part of an HBO split-site tripleheader headlined by middleweight titlist Daniel Geale (29-1, 15 KOs) of Australia defending against England’s Darren Barker (25-1, 16 KOs) at the Revel Resort in Atlantic City, N.J. Also on the Atlantic City portion of the broadcast is likely to be junior featherweight titlist Jonathan Romero (23-0, 12 KOs) of Colombia in a defense against former bantamweight titleholder Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko (29-4, 22 KOs) of Ghana.
“Their styles are such that the fight has to be nonstop action from the first bell,” said Main Events chief executive Kathy Duva, who promotes Kovalev. “Cleverly is a very busy fighter. Kovalev starts throwing bombs with both hands as soon as he reaches the center of the ring.
“The arena should be sold out, and we know how vocal crowds are in the U.K. That will just add to the excitement. (Hall of Fame promoter and matchmaker) Russell Peltz taught me to always ask myself, ‘Would I want to watch this fight before making a match?’ The answer in this case is a resounding yes.”
“I’m over the moon that Kovalev has confirmed that he’s fighting me,” Cleverly said. “I’ve wanted Kovalev all along, and I spoke to my promoter, Frank Warren, and said that this is the guy I want to fight. He’s making big waves in America and he’s a fighter that people know. His knockouts are frightening to watch, but that’s when I perform to my best, when the adrenalin is flowing and the odds are stacked against me.
“This will be Kovalev’s thunder against my lightning, and he is going to get a serious shock.”
“My goal has always been to win the world title as soon as possible,” Kovalev said. “So I decided to take the first opportunity that was offered to me. And I have dreamed for many years about fighting on HBO. I look forward to going to Wales to fight with Cleverly, and I congratulate him for accepting this challenge.”
