ADD another observation to the ever-growing list of comparisons between Joe Calzaghe and Nathan Cleverly.

Undefeated, Welsh, from Gwent, trained by their fathers, possibly the best British fighters of their respective generations and now similarly chastised for making the difficult seem mundane.

Before Saturday’s showdown with tough Kosovan Robin Krasniqi many warned that Cleverly was facing his toughest opponent yet, that he must beware the unexpected and woe betide him if he even thought about a showdown with Bernard Hopkins.

But when he absolutely destroys Krasniqi, dominating and outclassing him to such a degree that two of the three judges on Saturday night gave Cleverly every round, it’s because the opponent was a bum and not worthy of the opportunity. Never mind that he had won 38 fights without defeat.

It’s a curse of success that Calzaghe knows only too well. When the 27-year-old Calzaghe (Cleverly is 26) defended his super middleweight title for the fifth time, he enjoyed a unanimous points win over David Starie in Manchester. His reward? People questioning him to such a degree that he almost parted company with his trainer, father Enzo.

There won’t be any kind of backlash against Vince Cleverly (nor should there be) to rival that after Cleverly’s fifth successful title defence on Saturday, but the premise is the same, an exceptional talent being punished for making it all seem rather routine.

Which is exactly how it was on Saturday, Cleverly a class apart from the man tipped to give the maths whizz his toughest exam.

Clean, clinical and consistent, Cleverly dominated almost every minute of a punishing night for his game and durable foe. To question whether Cleverly could or should have won by stoppage merely disrespects Krasniqi.

“I hadn’t fought for seven months, there were times when my lungs felt a little bit heavy, that I was a bit rusty, but I just boxed, jabbed and tried to be clinical,” Cleverly reflected afterwards.

“I want to push for the big fights, I have to keep active, I want to unify the division and hope I can do it in 2013, but who knows if that’s possible?

“I wanted the stoppage, of course I did. I caught him with some good shots, credit to him for pushing through it.”

Credit indeed, Krasniqi proving to be much more than a glorified punching bag as Tommy Karpency, the last fighter to take Cleverly the distance, had been.

Krasniqi’s bravery should be acknowledged and applauded because he took some brutally stiff shots from Cleverly, particularly in the first half of the fight where the offence from the Welshman was nothing short of barbaric and had many at ringside wincing. Make no mistake; Bernard Hopkins – who tweeted during the fight that he was watching – will have been impressed.

It was somewhat surprising Cleverly charged out of the blocks to the degree he did, giving no inclination that his biggest foe in recent times is inactivity, having laced up his gloves only four times in the past two-and-a-half years.

Krasniqi mocked Cleverly earlier in the week by describing him as ‘The princess of boxing’ but the Bargoed-based fighter was on top to such a degree that if he’s the princess, Krasniqi was the pea.

Cleverly stalked his German-based opponent throughout, using a height and reach advantage that on paper seemed inconsequential but in the ring seemed ginormous to manoeuvre Krasniqi as he saw fit.

He pinned him back to the ropes several times and in the fourth round threatened to take him out after landing successive – and thumping – rights to the body.

Perhaps fearing he was soon to be stopped Krasniqi went toe-to-toe with Cleverly in the seventh and eighth and it halted the champions momentum, Cleverly failing to regain total control until the ninth session.

He continued to dominate from that moment on and arguably only the bell saved Krasniqi at the end of the 10th before he rallied to deservedly end the contest on his feet.

“He was hurt a lot of times, but wasn’t quite ready to go so I had to go back to Plan A and box,” Cleverly reflected.

“At this level it’s important to break your opponents down because these are world level fighters, 12-round fighters who are very tough, so you can’t be gung-ho and reckless.

“I was surprised he went the full 12 rounds because I hurt him early on with the right hand and I thought that sooner or later he’d go.

“But he dug in, was very hungry and kept fighting back. It was important that I stayed focused and boxed.”

Cleverly is now hopeful of sidestepping his next mandatory challenger, German Juergen Braehmer, with a possible showdown with Beibut Shumenov being mooted for July.

However, like his mentor, Cleverly may well have to come to realise that in the world of boxing where purses and politics rule, patience could very well be his biggest virtue.

And if the downside to that is facing criticism for making the difficult seem easy, then so be it.